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TALE OF TWO OCEANS; 



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New Story by an Old CalifornV%. 



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JUAN FERNANDEZ. 

U,at. y ;,7 south, I.oiig. 78 43 west.) 

(ROBINSON CRUSOE'S ISLAND 



BY E I BARRA, 

San Francisco, 189:5. 



A Tale of Two Oceans; 



New Story by an Old Californian. 




JUAN FERNANDEZ. 

An Account of a Voyage from Philadelphia to San Francisco, 

Around Cape Horn, Years 1849-50, calling at Rio de 

Janeiro, Brazil, and at Juan Fernandez, 

hi the South Pacific. 



BY Er I BARRA, 

San Francisco, 1891. 




2 / rs >- V 



A'>' 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1893, by 

E. I. BARRA, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



SAN FRANCISCO, 1893: 
Press of Kastman & Co. 



DODIOMTORV. 



TO WM. J. YOUNGER, M. D. 

Knowing by long acquaintance with you that you like a good 
story, when it is modestly told, and feeling that your approbation 
will be a harbinger of success, I dedicate this book to you. 

If in reading it you find among its pages anything to approve, 
or anything that will cause a smile to overspread your good natured 
countenance, I will feel thai the reading public will not lay aside rpy 
book with a feeling of disdain or despise me for my presumption in 
daring to write it. 

If you note the paucity of sky-scraping words, or the absence of 
moon-raking metaphor in this story, I hope you will find instead an 
appropriateness of expression and a clearness of meaning that will 
more than make up for the lack of "words of learne'd length and 
thund'ring sound," such as the schoolmaster of Goldsmith used to 
display with so much pride that he was a scholar of exceptional 
erudition. 

With a sincere wish that your life may be illumined with a con- 
tinuous sunshine of prosperity, I remain your friend, 

THE AUTHOR. 



RRe^HCE. 



In writing and presenting this book for the entertainment of the 
public, I am carrying out a long cherished desire. During my event- 
ful trip from Philadelphia to San Francisco, I wrote a diary, in which 
I noted all my experiences and all events that passed under my 
observation. When I refer to my log, as the sea diary is called, my 
memory is refreshed to such a degree as to make that which took 

place more than forty years ago seem as though it were but yester- 
day. 

The reason why I have delayed this long contemplated wish is 
because of the necessary daily battle of life to win the wherewith to 
buy the bread and the butter to sustain the body in a working con- 
dition. Now that I have retired, like the " little bee," into winter 
quarters, I have taken great pleasure in recounting the stirring events 
of the days of '49 and '50. With this explanation I submit this, my 
humble volume, to the indulgent consideration of the reading public. 

THE AUTHOR. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



FROM PHILADELPHIA AROUND CAPE HORN, IN 
THE YEARS 1849-50. 



A True and Succinct Account of the Voyage. 



To begin : From a voyage to Ireland with a load of corn 
for the famine-stricken people of that country, and from 
thence to Palermo, Sicily, where we took in a cargo of 
lemons, oranges and almonds, and from thence to Boston, 
where we arrived on the last day of February, 1849. After 
we had anchored in the lower harbor, the wind chopped 
around to the northwest and the air became so cold that by 
eight o'clock the following morning our vessel was inclosed 
in a sheet of ice, thereby cutting off all communication with 
the city. There we lay embargoed for eight days. At last, 
on the ninth day, the ice boat " E. B. Forbes," that had 
been under repairs for damage caused by ice, was again able 
to resume ice breaking, and she opened the channel, which 
enabled us to reach the wharf and discharge our cargo. 

When we reached the wharf the first news we heard was 
that General Zachary Taylor had been elected President of 
the United States, and that gold hud been discovered in 
California. We were informed that several vessels had 
already sailed for California, among them the ship "Edward 
Everett," on board of which vessel several of my young 
friends had taken passage. "And now," said my informant, 
"I suppose you will leave on the very next ship." 



8 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

Well, when the cargo was discharged, all hands were 
paid off, and I took board with a Mr. Brodhead, who enter- 
tained a few seafaring men. There I met a man who had 
arrived in the ship " Kemittance," on board of which ship 
he had been engaged for the two years previous collecting 
hides and tallow on the coast of California. He told me 
that ten days before they weighed anchor to leave Monterey 
a party of Americans had arrived from Coloma and brought 
with them a large quantity of gold dust, a specimeu of 
which he had bought from them, and which he showed me 
in a tin box like a snuff box. I, in my utter ignorance 
about gold mining, asked him why he had not gone up to 
Coloma and gathered up two or three sacks of the precious 
dust and brought it home with him. He answered th.it he 
could not leave the ship, even if he had so desired; there- 
fore he had come home in the ship, had been discharged 
and paid off, and now that he was free he was going to buy 
an outfit for gold mining, and take passage on board the 
first ship that was to leave for California. This person 
seemed to be so sincere and so sanguine that it caused me 
to reflect on the possibility of my going to California, and, 
in one grand swoop, digging up a big fortune. 

The city of Boston, as well as all the adjacent towns, 
were alive on the subject of the California gold mines. The 
wharves were lined with ships, brigs, schooners, and even 
sloops, with big signs which bore the legend: " The first 
vessel for California. For freight or passage apply to 
So and 80, Commercial street," or Broad street. Lumber 
already framed for houses, barrels of beef and pork, flour, 
and boxes of boots, shoes, and long rubber leggings for 
working in the water, shovels, picks and axes, in a hetero- 
geneous mass, were being hauled by drays alongside the 
vessels, and all for California. 

I saw two men meet and salute. Said one: "Well, 
Swift, are }^ou going to California?" "No; but I am fitting 
out my brother Josiah with everything necessary for a trip 
of two years, as well as to pay his passage to San Francisco 
and also to furnish the money to pay his expenses to the 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 9 

mines, and in return I am to receive one-half of all his gains 
for the two years that he is to be gone." 

I afterwards found that many persons in New England 
who had faith in the gold discoveries but could not go 
themselves, had adopted the plan of fitting out a relative or 
a reliable friend with all necessary outfit for the period of 
two years, paying their passage out and securing themselves 
for the outlay by drawing up a legal agreement, in which 
the adventurer bound himself to divide all that he would 
gain during the two years with the friend who fitted him 
out for the trip, share and share alike. 

Many parties that were composed of from fifty to a hun- 
dred, would buy a vessel, load her with building materials 
and provisions, and, as the party generally had more or less 
sailors, they would sail her themselves, and when they 
arrived in San Francisco sell vessel and cargo for what they 
could get, and then proceed to the mines; and many com- 
panies took along small boats, which, upon their arrival in 
San Francisco, they provisioned and went up the Sacra- 
mento or San Joaquin rivers in their own boat. 

The first ship that I saw depart for California was the 
"S\*'eclen." She was lying at Lewis' wharf. The morning 
on which she sailed Avas an eventful one to the voyagers and 
their friends. The morning was clear and cold, with the 
wind northwest blowing straight out of the harbor. Every- 
body about the wharf and on board the ship seemed to be 
very busy. Baggage in great quantities was being brought 
down the wharf and put on board the ship. Fresh provis- 
ions were hoisted on board, such as quarters of beef, car- 
casses of mutton, killed and dressed hogs, cabbages, turnips 
and other fresh food, which gave evidence that the owners 
of the ship intended to treat the passengers and crew in a 
liberal manner. The crew of the ship were busy on board 
preparing for their departure, while many of the passengers 
were taking leave of their relatives and friends. 

One group that particularly attracted my attention was 
composed of three persons, two ladies and a gentleman. 
The ladies appeared to be a mother and daughter. The 



10 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

gentleman was apparently about twenty-three years of age 
and was as fine looking a young fellow as would be seen in 
a day's travel. Many of the persons there had accompanied 
relatives from their distant homes, even as far off as New 
Hampshire and Vermont. Many New England mothers 
were there, looking every one of them a heroine that she 
was. They were taking leave of their darling sons for a long 
while at least. As I approached the group of three persons 
I noticed the young man clasping the hand of the young 
lady in his own, while her sad, tearful face was bent down to 
hide her grief. The elder lady spoke and said, "Cyrus, I 
told you a month ago, when you first told of your intention 
to go to California, that a steady, industrious man can win 
gold at home; but a good, thrifty, prudent wife he can't win 
every day. '" At this remark the young lady burst into fresh 
tears, which she could not keep back. The young man 
softly stroked her hand while he answered her mother, say- 
ing " Mrs. Hamblin, I am not in a condition just now to do 
as I would like to do; but after this mining trip of two years, 
or perhaps less time, I hope to be able to build a nice house 
over in Dracut, just far enough from Lowell to make it seem 
like the country. Then Deborah and myself will be married 
and settle down in a home of our own. And I intend to 
have a nice gentle horse and a family carryall, and she will 
be able to drive over to your house every fine day and take 
you all around the neighborhood." At this glowing descrip- 
tion of anticipated happiness the young lady looked up at 
her lover and smiled pleasantly at his description of the joy 
to come. 

This incident brought to my mind the lines of the poet 
Burns, wherein he says : 

' ' The best laid schemes o' mice and men 
Gang aft agley, 
And lea'e us naught but grief and pain 
For promised joy." 

Now all those that were going were hurrying on board. 
The pilot went on board and ordered the mate to get every- 
thing ready for a start. The mate sung out to the men aloft, 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 11 

"Drop the bunts of the fore and main top-sails." Then to 
the men on deck — " Sheet home ! " " Now man the halyards 
and hoist away!" "Aye, aye, sir!" "Give us a shanter, 
somebody." suDg out the men, at which one of the sailors 
struck up a hoisting song: 

" Nancy Banana she married a barber! " 

CHOBUS. 

" Haul lier away, boys! Haul her away!" 
" She married a barber who shaved without lather! " 

CHORUS. 

" Haul her away, boys! Haul her away!" 

When the top-sails were mastheaded, the pilot sung out 
to cast o& the bow line. "Now run up your jib, Mr. Mate. 
Now ease away on your spring line;" and the vessel began 
to move from the wharf. Then the pilot sung out, "Let go 
your spring and stern lines ! " Then the good ship began to 
forge ahead ; and the last cord that held the ship tied to the 
land was cast off and she was as free as the bird that flew 
around her masthead. Just then a number of the passengers 
mounted the quarter-deck and struck up a song that was 
then quite in vogue in minstrel exhibitions, changing a few 
words of the chorus to suit the occasion. It ran thus : 

" I dreamt a dream the other night when everything was still; 
I dreamt I saw Susanah, a coming down the hill. 
She had a jjancake in her mouth ; a tear was in her eye ; 
Says I, ' O Susanah, dear; Susanah, don't you cry.' " 

CHORUS. 

" O! Susanah, don't you cry for me! 
For I'm bound to California with my washbowl on my knee." 

In those early days of mining the miner would fill a sack 
with auriferous soil, take it to the nearest rivulet of water, 
and wash it out in a common tin pan or washbowl, as the 
soil, being much lighter than the gold, would float off and 
leave the gold dust in the bottom of the pan. 



12 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 




As the ship shot out into the harbor under the impulse 
of the favoring breeze, three hearty cheers were given by 
the people on the wharf, and were answered by the depart- 
ing voyagers. As the ship moved majestically down the 
harbor with all sail spread, she was indeed a fine spectacle. 
As the concourse of people began to leave the wharf to go 
up into the city it was very easy to pick out those persons 
that had taken leave of their departing friends from those 
that were mere spectators of the novel scene. 

I owned one-quarter in a sixty-ton schooner that had 
been lying up all winter in New Bedford, and as I was now 
disengaged, I went there and arranged with the captain — 
who also owned a quarter in the vessel — to sail with him on 
shares, the other half being owned by two Boston mer- 
chants. After obtaining the consent of the other owners, 
we had the vessel hauled out on the marine railway, recalked 
and painted, and then sailed for the Capes of Virginia. 
We went up the Hampton Roads and into the Sansemond 
River, whore we loaded with corn in bulk for Boston. We 
made this trip without any particular incident, returned to 
Chesapeake Bay, went up the Potomac River and loaded 
with corn and oats for Providence, R. I. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 13 

During all this time I was thinking about California and 
my young friends who had sailed for there during the month 
of December, and who might return by the following De- 
cember loaded down with sacks of gold, thereby gaining the 
admiration of all the young women, and the envy of all the 
young men of their acquaintance. 

These thoughts swayed my mind to such a degree that 
by the time we arrived in Providence I had made up my 
mind to "go to California with my washbowl on my knee." 
As soon as we had discharged our cargo of grain I informed 
the captain. He very kindly reckoned up our gains and 
divided with me, and wished me good luck in my new vent- 
ure. 

I took the cars, went to Boston, and there called upon 
ray friends, the merchants who were owners of half the ves- 
sel, and informed them of my resolution. One of them told 
me that if I would make one more short trip in the schooner 
and the accounts from California should continue to be 
favorable, that he and his brother would fit the vessel out 
and load her with such a cargo as would find a ready market 
in California, and place me in command. To this generous 
proposition I made due acknowledgment; but I told him I 
would rather go to California by the Isthmus Route, so that 
when I arrived there I would be free legged and unconfined. 

When these kind gentlemen saw that I was determined 
to go they bought my quarter interest in the vessel, paid 
me the money, and wished me good luck and bushels of 
gold dust. 

I now prepared to start as soon as possible. I pui-chased 
an outfit such as I was told would be required, and, after 
taking leave of my kind friends in Boston and vicinity, I 
bought my ticket for New York and started one afternoon 
in the cars for Fall River from the Old Colony Depot. 
When we arrived in Fall River we embarked on the steamer 
"Oregon." The steamer moved down Mount Hope Bay 
and out into the beautiful Narragansett a-kiting. The bell 
now rang for dinner and I followed the crowd into the din- 
ing saloon, at the door of which stood a stalwart Ethiopian, 



14 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

who demanded a dollar, upon the receipt of which he per- 
mitted me to pass in. As I entered, another gentleman of 
the same persuasion took my ticket and escorted me to a 
seat at the table. The table was resplendent with china- 
ware, glassware, and silver casters. I was taken all aback 
with so much grandeur, and felt myself quite out of place, 
so different was it from what I had been accustomed to 
before on shipboard. The waiter, observing my embarrass- 
ment, took me in hand and brought me a number of well- 
filled plates. My hunger overcame my bashfulness and I 
began to eat, and continued my gustatory occupation until 
my stomach admonished me that it was time to stop. 

When I went out on deck we were abreast of the New- 
port breakwater. Soon we came up with Fort Adams, and, 
passing it, we came up with Brenton's Eeef. Then Beaver- 
tail Lighthouse on the starboard side; then came up with 
Point Judith, and next Watch Hill light, and entered the 
Long Island Sound. 

I now turned into my berth and dreamed that I was in 
the mines and had already dug up and washed out a barrel - 
ful of shining gold dust. In the height of my rejoicing at 
my success I was awakened by the tramping of many feet 
and I arose and dressed myself and went out on deck to 
find that it was five o'clock a. m. and that we were just pass- 
ing Blackwell's Island and heading for the North River side 
of New York City. We reached the wharf about six o'clock 
and I engaged a vehicle to take my baggage to a respectable 
boarding house on Koosevelt street. 

After 1 took my breakfast I sallied out to find the office 
of the Pacific Mail Company, which I accomplished without 
any difficulty. Although I had been in New York many 
times before I had always belonged to some vessel and was 
therefore a stranger on shore. When I reached the place I 
found the sidewalk in front occupied by a crowd of men, and 
all of them conversing about California and the latest news 
from there. The office was on the second floor, and as I 
went up the stairs I found them crowded with men going up 
and others coming down. After I reached the office I had to 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 15 

wait for my turn to approach the counter. When I had ac- 
complished this feat, sore indeed was my disappointment to 
learn from the agent that he could not sell me a through 
ticket to California. All that he could do was to sell a ticket 
to Chagres, from whence I could make my way to Panama, 
through swamps and over mountains, a distance of more 
than fifty miles, after which I could trust to luck to obtain 
passage for San Francisco, as all the tickets for cabin and 
steerage on the Pacific side were already sold as far off as 
the following December. I turned sadly from the counter 
and went down stairs. 

When I reached the street a very respectable looking 
gentlemen spoke to me and asked me if I had bought my 
ticket. I answered that I had not. " Then," said he, "I 
advise you not to do so, for the reason that the Isthmus is 
crowded with people that can't get away. I have a fine ship 
that is now loading in Philadelphia for San Francisco, and 
I am the master and part owner of her. She will have fin- 
ished loading within ten days, and we shall sail for San 
Francisco within two days thereafter. I am going to take 
my wife and only daughter with me, and that is a guarantee 
that the ship is sound and seaworthy. Now I will tell you: 
I saw you come out of the steamship ofiice, and I like your 
appearance, and although I have nearly all my cabin pas- 
sengers engaged, and I will take no others, I want you to 
go with me, and I will make a deduction in the price of pas- 
sage in your favor." 

He was a man of fine presence, standing six feet or over, 
of a florid complexion, and of an address so pleasant and 
friendly that he won my confidence. I, like a simpleton 
that I was, accepted all that he told me as honest truth. 
He directed me to call that evening at the Merchants' Hotel 
and inquire of the clerk for Capt. Blanchard. He then left 
me and I strolled around the wharves and saw many ships 
with signs out: "First vessel for California; cargo alien- 
gaged ; will leave in five days. For passage only apply to 
so and so. Maiden Lane." 

At six o'clock I went to my boarding house and ate my 



16 A Tale of Tavo Oceans. 

supper, after which I made my way to the Merchants' Hotel 
and asked the clerk for Capt. Blanchard of the ship " Sam- 
son." He told me that the captain was then taking his din- 
ner and would soon come into the reading-room. I stood 
around awhile and heard the gentlemen talking about ships 
and quick passages and so on, and I inferred that the place 
was the headquarters of sea captains. I stood around awhile 
and after a time I saw the captain enter the room. When 
he saw me he greeted me cordially and invited me to his 
room. Then he began by saying, "When I saw you this 
morning I was favorably impressed by your appearance, and 
I like your modest and manly manner. Now I'll tell you 
what I'll do for you. The price of passage on my ship is 
fixed at two hundred dollars for cabin, and there will be no 
steerage passengers on board, so that we may not be crowded 
on such a long voyage. I'll deduct one-quarter of the price 
in your favor, which you can pay to the ship's agent in 
Philadelphia, to whom you can hand the note which I will 
now give you. After you have paid your passage you can 
go aboard the ship at South street wharf and hand this note 
to Mr. Cranston, the mate, who will then let you pick your 
berth in the upper cabin, as the lower cabin is to be devoted 
to the use of families, who have already engaged all the 
staterooms." "I suppose we shall live pretty well in the 
cabin, Captain," I ventured to remark. " Live pretty well ! " 
said he. " On that you may depend. As you are an old 
shell-back like myself I don't mind telling you all about it. 
I am determined that we shall live like figlitiug cocks. I 
have already engaged a half dozen coops of chickens, a large 
lot of ducks and a dozen of half-grown pigs, for I myself am 
fond of sea pie made with good fresh pig. The tables of the 
upper and lower cabins shall be identical. There shall be 
no difference. Every day for (.1 inner there shall be plum 
duff, with raisins or Zaute currants, and wine sauce. For a 
change there will be rice pudding with eggs, and I am sorry 
we can't carry a cow, for then we could use milk also. Also 
we shall have mince or dried apple pies. Why, sir, by the 
time that we arrive in California, in place of being as lean 
as a dolphiu, as you are now, you'll be as fat as a porpoise. " 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



17 



After this pleasant interview I left the captain, feeling 
highly elated with my good luck, and that indeed " my lines 
had fallen in pleasant places." But, alas for the truth, I saw 
neither chickens, ducks nor half-grown pigs on board the 
ship "Samson" while I was on board of her, only in my 
mind's eye. • 

I returned to my boarding house and to bed, being de- 
termined to take the first train for Philadelphia the next 
day. I arose the next morniag, Avalked down to the Battery 
and viewed the harbor with innumerable vessels moving 
hither and yon. I saw a Liverpool packet of the black ball 
line that had arrived the evening before. Her decks were 
black with immigrants, there were so many. At that time 
the only steamships that crossed the Atlantic made their 
port in Boston, and they took only cabin passengers, there- 
fore the packet ships of that day were of great importance. 

After looking around awhile I returued to the boarding 
house and ate my breakfast, after which I went to the rail- 
load office and there learned that by taking the night slow 
train that the cost of passage would be much less and still I 
would arrive in Philadelphia quite early the foUowiug morn- 
ing. I bought my ticket and walked around; went up 
Chatham street, the Bowery and other places that sailors 
used to talk about when we were at sea. At one o'clock I 
returned to my boarding house, ate my dinner, paid my bill 
and then engaged a dray to take my baggage to the Jersey 
City ferry. 

At five o'clock we left the ferry landing and crossed to 
Jersey City. There we got on board the cars and about six 
o'clock started for Philadelphia. In the same seat with me 
sat an old gentleman, who asked me where I was from and 
where I was going. After I had answered these questions, 
apparently to his satisfaction, he took me into his confi- 
dence and told me that he was from Boston, where he had 
been engaged in business for many years and had by his in- 
dustry and frugality accumulated a sum equal to seventy 
thousand dollars, the most of which he had invested in real 



18 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

estate, and be had retired from business because lie felt that 
he had money enough. That was many years ago, and I will 
say that he is the only man that I ever heard make such a 
declaration. 

He further told me that his son, who had gone to New 
Orleans some years ago and was now established in busi- 
ness, had sent him an urgent invitation to come and pass the 
winter with him in the genial climate of the South. He 
said he was then on his way by Avay of Cincinnati, to which 
place he was going by rail, and from thence by river on one 
of the floating palaces down the Ohio river into the great 
Mississippi, and down to New Orleans. After passing the 
Avinter in the company of his son and family, and spring 
was well advanced, he would embark on board of one of the 
numerous vessels that sail from New Orleans to Boston, and 
go home by the way of the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida 
Straits, until he would again reach his New England home — 
than which there is no sweeter spot on earth to him. 

By this time it had become dark, and the lamps in the 
car had been lighted. The passengers, one after the other, 
were dropping asleep. I had the ioside seat, and in the seat 
opposite mine sat a lady holding a child, about eighteen 
months' old, that had been crowing, talking baby-talk, and 
kicking from the time we had started, and now from sheer 
exhaustion it had fallen asleep in its mother's arms. The 
old gentleman beside me was now in the laud of nod. 

I was ruminating in my mind over my novel situation — so 
different from my usual one of a life on shipboard. I was 
roused from my reverie by the lady on the opposite seat say- 
ing to me: " Young man, I see that you don't seem to be 
either tired or sleepy, while I am both, and feel all worn out 
with taking care of my baby. Now will you, like a good 
young man as I see that you are, just hold my baby while I 
take a half hour of rest?" What could I say, only to answer 
in the affirmative, and took the child from her arms for half 
an hour. The mother settled herself in her seat, and for 
two successive hours she slept and snored at the rate of ten 
knots an hour. 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 



19 



I fe]t that I was doing some little good in the world, and 
was satisfied; when at the end of the two hours we came to 
a place where there was some change to be made, the lady 
woke up, and relieved me of my charge, with many thanks. 

In the morning Ave arrived in Philadelphia. I left my 
baggage at the depot, and made my way to the Ked Bank 
Ferry Hotel, to which place Capt. Blanchard had directed 
me to go. I told Mr. and Mrs. Clements that Capt. Blan- 
chard had directed me to put up at their hotel. Mr. Clem- 
ents said that Capt. Blanchard was one of their patrons 
whenever he was in Philadelphia. Mr. Clements showed 
me into a snug little room in the third story, from the one 
window of which I had a good view of the surrounding 
housetops, and could admire the steeples of the different 
churches. 

I descended to the street and engaged a drayman to fetch 
my baggage from the depot. 

After I had got my things into the little room, I opened 
my chest, took out my comb and brush, and, there being a 
pitcher of water and a basin in the room, I spruced up a 
little and went down stairs to my breakfast. 

After breakfast I started out to attend to the business 
that had brought me to Philadelphia. I asked the way to 
the South street wharf, and it was pointed out to me, and I 
found that the ship didn't lay far from the hotel. I Avent on 
board and handed the note which the captain had given, to 
the mate of the ship Mr. Cranston. He read the note, and 
then reached out his hand to me in a friendly manner, and 
said that he was glad to greet me, as Capt. Blanchard said 
that he thought that I was a likely young man and he hoped 
all the other passengers, most of whom Avere already en- 
gaged, would prove to be as pleasant to the officers of the ship 
and to one another, as that would be an important matter 
on such a long voyage as the one we were about to enter 
upon. 

I will here describe the mate. He was a man about five 
feet nine inches in height, with a round, plump face, em- 
browned by the sun, entirely unshaven, a small nose sur- 



20 A Tale of Two Ocea'ns. 

mounted bj a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles, dark eyes, 
black curly hair and beard, and pouting, smiling lips, and 
apparently about thirty years of age. To me he looked like 
a lawyer's clerk much more than he did like a sailor. How- 
ever, he was very complaisant to me, and told me that he 
was from Massachusetts, and had been up to that present 
time master of an East Indiaman: but he had determined 
to go to California and try his fortune in the land of gold. 
He said that being an old acquaintance of Capt. Blanchard 
he had joined his ship as first mate with the agreement that 
he should leave the ship when she arrived in California. 

The ship "Samson" I found to be an eastern built 
craft of the old fashioned kettle-bottom model, built for 
carrying more than for speed. She had been engaged in the 
cotton trade, taking a cargo of cotton from New Orleans or 
Mobile to Liverpool, and going from there to Saint Ubes in 
Portugal, or Cadiz in Spain, and thence taking a cargo of 
salt to Bath, Me., for the use of the Grand Bank fishermen; 
then after painting and refitting, the ship would repeat the 
voyage the following year. She was what the sailors called 
a good old monthly ship. I could see that she was not a 
clipper, but she looked sound and solid and of about five 
hundred tons burthen. 

I determined to go in her, and I asked Mr. Cranston the 
direction to the office of the agent. He directed me along 
the city front and told me the number of the house. When 
I arrived at the office I found Mr. Perkins, the agent, at his 
desk, and, bowing to him politely, I handed him the note 
from Captain Bhinchard. After he read the note he said to 
me, "Are you an old acquaintance of Capt. Blanchard?" 
"No, sir," I answered; "I never saw him before I met him 
in New York." " Why I asked you is because he informs me 
in this note that you are to have your passage to San Fran- 
cisco at one-quarter less than the regular price. However, 
J suppose he has his motives for so doing." I learned after- 
wards that Mr. Perkins Avas correct in his surmise. 

I paid my passage, received my ticket and returned to 
the ship in order to select my berth. When I asked of the 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 21 

mate which berth I could have, he naively told me to take 
any one I chose. '* Why, sir," I replied, " the captain told 
me that nearly every berth in the upper cabin was already 
engaged." "Well, well," said he, " I guess they are; but, 
you know, the agent don't keep me informed about such 
matters." 

The upper cabin contained two staterooms aft, one of 
which was to be occupied by the mates; and one forward on 
the larboard side. On the starboard side forward was the 
pantry. Between the staterooms, extending the length of 
the cabin, were thirty berths, fifteen on each side. 

The center of the cabin was occupied by a table extend- 
ing its whole length. Over the table were swinging racks, 
which were filled with wine glasses, tumblers and highly 
polished casters — all very suggestive of good eating that was 
to come upon the table after we got started for California. 
The pantry was well stocked with dishes, and mutel}' told 
all intending passengers that they might expect to fare 
high. I afterwards learned that this was all for effect, and 
not for use. The lower cabin, I learned, had been engaged 
by a number of French families, who had been the adherents 
of Louis Phillip, the late king in their own country, and, 
after the coup de etat by Louis Napoleon, had left France in 
order to settle in Philadelphia, and try their fortunes in the 
new world. On hearing the wonderful accounts of the gold 
discoveries in California they had determined to be among 
the first to reach that land of fabulous wealth. 

I selected my berth in the first row abaft the pantry, be- 
ing nearest the cabin door, and placed a ticket on it to se- 
cure it. While I was looking around on board, four drays 
were driven to the ship's side and unloaded of heavy cases. 
After a time a number of stevedores, with their foreman, 
came on board and took off the hatches in order to take the 
goods on board. For the first time I went down into the 
hold, and found that the lower deck was not more than half 
full, while the 'tween decks had only a few cases in it. I 
said to the mate that it didn't look as though the ship could 
sail in ten days, seeing how little she had then on board. 



22 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

" Well," said he; "you know that a great quantity of cargo 
can be stowed on board of a ship in ten days, and as the 
agent tells me that every ton of freight that can be stowed 
away is already engaged, we will, without doubt, get away 
from here by the last of this month, or by the first of August, 
sure. 

That evening Mr. Clement, the landlord of the hotel, told 
me that the clipper brig "Tecumseh," Capt. Lyle, was re- 
ceiving a quick dispatch and was nearly loaded, and had all 
her passengers engaged, and without doubt after she left 
the " Samson," being the next nearest loaded, would receive 
a quick dispatch. 

The next morning I went to the wharf where the "Te- 
cumseh " laid and saw that she Avas loaded chock-a-block, 
and that she had considerable freight on deck. This inspired 
me with the thought that our ship, being the next nearest 
loaded, that we would be enabled to start near the stipu- 
lated time. 

I now turned my attention to buying a venture for the 
California market. I had been informed that pickles of all 
kinds were in demand by the miners, and could be sold 
there at a large profit. I went to " Smith's pickle preserv- 
ing establishment," and bought a large quantity of pickles 
in glass jars, and suj^erintended the packing in boxes in a 
manner that would insure their safe transportation. I also 
bought twenty thousand Philadelphia made cigars, which I 
afterwards retailed in San Francisco at twenty-five cents 
apiece. 

After buying a few other articles that I thought would be 
in demand in California, I packed them into cases and sent 
them on board the "Samson," and obtained the bills of 
lading from Mr. Perkins, the agent. I didn't insure my 
venture for the reason that if anything happened to the ship 
I wouldn't have any use for the money to be recovered from 
the company. 

After I had arranged and shipped my goods, I turned my 
attention to viewing the sights of the Quaker City, as it is 
called. I learned that it is so called because it was settled 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 23 

by Quakers led by William Penn, who had received a grant 
of land from the King of England. The State of Pennsyl- 
vania is called the Keystone State for the reason that it was 
the center one of the thirteen original States of the Union. 

My first pilgrimage was made to that historical building, 
Independence Hall, where that illustrious, self-sacrificing 
body of patriots assembled and then pledged their fortunes 
and their lives for the achievement and maintenance of the 
freedom of this great and glorious country. To take it and 
to hold it free from the domination of King George the 
Third of England and all his cohorts. I went and viewed 
the hall where American Independence was born in the year 
1776, and offered a silent prayer to the Euler of Nations that 
this land may continue to be the land of the free and the 
home of the brave to the end of time. 

When I returned to the hotel that evening I found two 
young men there waiting for me. They told me that they 
came from the interior of the State, and were going to Cali- 
fornia; that they had never seen a ship before, and when 
they went on board the "Samson" they became timid and 
were rather dubious about taking passago on her. Capt. 
Blanchard, who had returned from down East with his wife 
and child, had told them that he would take his family along 
and also referred them to me as being a sailor, and that I 
had engaged and paid for my passage on his ship, and told 
them that they would find me at the Eed Bank Hotel. I 
told them that I thought that the " Samson " was a substan- 
tial craft, not very speedy, yet a safe vessel to go to sea in. 
After hearing my statement they said that they would pay 
their passage the following day, and they did and became 
my fellow-passengers on the ship. 

A few days afterwards a gentleman, accompanied by his 
wife, came on the same kind of errand and informed me that 
Capt. Blanchard had referred him to me in regard to the 
seaworthiness of the ship. He told me that he had sold out 
his store in the interior of the State, and in company of his 
wife was going to try the climate of California for the bene- 
fit of his health as well as to improve his fortune. As to his 



24 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

health, his looks showed that there was plenty of room for 
improvement. They also became my fellow-passengers, and 
afterwards when he and his wife left the ship in Rio Janeiro 
and paid their passage to California on another ship, he 
mildly reproached me, saying that had it not been for me 
he would have waited in Philadelphia for another vessel. 

I now could see the reason why Capt. Blanchard had 
made a quarter reduction in my passage. It was because he 
wanted to use me as a standing reference as to the sea- 
worthiness of his ship, among these honest country people 
who had no confidence in their own judgment. And I at 
once determined that after that T would simply say that I 
knew nothing about the ship further than having paid my 
passage on her and intended to go in her. 

I now found out that Capt. Blanchard was not a man to 
throw a sprat unless it would catch for him a mackerel. 

The ship was slowly filling up and I thought that we 
might be ready to sail by the latter part of August. 

After visiting the historic Independence Hall my next 
desire was to visit the United States Mint — the first that was 
established in the United States. In the year 1791 Congress 
passed an act establishing a national Mint in Philadelphia, 
the capital of the United States at that time. President 
Washington, it is said, took great interest in forwarding the 
preparations, but the progress was slow; therefore, the first 
coinage in the new Mint took place in 1793, in which year 
copper cents were coined. In the following year, October, 
1794, the first American dollars were issued, since which 
time the American silver coins have gradually displaced the 
foreign silver coins Avith which, up to recent years, this 
country has been flooded. There have been several mints 
established since, but they are only branches, as this is the 
])arent mint, and supplies all the others with dies and other 
delicate machinery. 

My next visit was to Girard College. This is an educa- 
tional institution established by Stephen Girard, a Phila- 
delphia merchant of French birth, living very poor in order 
that he might die very rich. This institution will most cer- 



A Tale of Two Oceans, 25 

tainly perpetuate his name in honor, and many an educated 
Philadelphian has cause to gratefully honor the name of 
Stephen Girard. 

Philadelphia is situated at the confluence of two rivers, 
the Delaware and Schuylkill. One street, called Market 
street, extends from the bank of the Delaware river to the 
bank of the Schuylkill. On the Delaware side it is built with 
fine and substantial buildings, but as you approach the 
Schuylkill river the houses are wooden structures, ap- 
parently built to cover as much waste ground as possible. 

When I reached the Schuylkill side I found the bank of 
the river occupied by schooners and sloops that were being 
loaded with coal from canal boats, to be carried to eastern 
ports. On the opposite side of the Schuylkill was a vast 
oozy marsh, covered with reeds, and I saw sportsmen going 
over in flat bottomed boats to shoot wild ducks. 

I next visited Kensington, a suburb of Philadelphia, on 
the Delaware river, where the cars come in immense trains 
loaded with coal; and here I found something different from 
what I had ever seen before. The cars were carried on 
trestled tracks quite a distance over the deep part of the 
river, the schooners were then hauled alongside, a shoot run 
into her hatchway, and the bottom was dropped in each car 
in its turn and the coal was shot into the vessel's hold in the 
twinkling of an eye. It was then trimmed by lumpers, and 
in two hours' time a two hundred tons' schooner would be 
ready to go down the river fully loaded. 

I contrasted this with what I had seen in other places. 
I once belonged to a brig that went to Pictou, Nova Scotia. 
When we arrived there we were ordered to a place on the 
opposite side of the harbor called New Glasgow, to there 
load with coal. With the primitive style that prevailed then 
it took us four days to load two hundred tons of coal, 
whereas I saw the schooner loaded with same quantity of 
coal in two hours. 

Whatever the Americans have to do they do it with 
celerity, showing thereby that they practice the injunction 
of Saint Paul, wherein he says: "Whatever thy hands 
findeth to do, that do with all thy might. " 

3 



26 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

One morning I read in the "Ledger" that there was to 
be a great pLay performed at the Walnut Street Theatre, and 
among other attractions there to appear, was Collins the 
Irish comedian and singer of songs. 

I determined to attend, and immediately after supper in 
the evening I made my way to the theatre. The play of that 
night was, I think, composed by Sheridan Knowles. The 
leading female character came on the stage arraj'cd in a 
riding habit, with hat on head and whip in hand, and began 
reciting her wonderful exploits in a most rhapsodical man- 
ner, about leaping over dikes, clearing wide ditches, and 
other equestrian achievements. The more she talked the 
louder the audience clapped, until the house was in a furor 
of excitement; finally the actress had to withdraw from very 
exhaustion. At the conclusion of the piece the lady was 
called before the curtain and received an ovation of hearty 
applause. I didn't see any flowers thrown upon the stage, 
for at that time the practice of emptying the contents of a 
flower shop upon the stage did not prevail. I afterwards 
learned that the name of the actress was Miss Alexina 
Fisher, and that she was a great favorite with the people of 
Philadelphia. The next was to be the "grand piece de re- 
sistance," Mr. Collins the Irish comedian and songster. 
After a short lull the stage manager came to the footlights 
and announced Mr. Collins; as he uttered the name a fine 
looking gentleman emerged from the wings, amid the up- 
roarious applause of the audience, alow and aloft. The 
actor bowed, and the people clapped until the audience 
seemed to have tired themselves out. Mr. Collins was a 
man that stood about five feet eleven inches in height, very 
erect, had dark curly hair, a ruddy complexion, dark eyes, 
and a very pleasing expression of countenance. The music 
struck up and Mr. Collins sang thus: 

" Oh, Widder Macliree, its no wonder you frown, 
Och, hone ! Widder Machree ; 
It spoils your looks, that same dirty black gown, 
Och, hone ! Widder Machree." 

His grimaces were wonderful contortions of the human 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 27 

face. At the end of each stanza, the audience would shout 
to the echo. To me, it seemed flat, stale, and unprofitable; 
but, I suppose it was very profitable to Mr. Collins, and that 
was all that he wanted. He seemed to please his listeners 
and thus put money in his purse. 

After the performance I wended my way towards my 
hotel, and when I reached the first corner below the theatre, 
I heard the cry: "Hot corn! hot corn! all hot." As I ap- 
proached the spot from whence the cry emanated, I found 
that it was a Negro woman, who was standing on the street 
corner, with an immense tin kettle in front of her, which 
was kept hot by an alcohol lamp. I saw her draw ears of 
boiled corn out of the kettle, and dispense them to finely 
dressed gentlemen, who appeared to be of the " haut ton" 
of Philadelphia society. They received the corn from the 
woman and proceeded to eat it, there and then. When they 
had finished, they pulled out their handkerchiefs, wiped 
their hands, paid the woman, and went their way, just as if 
it was a most common-place affair with them to do so, and 
as if they had been " to the manor born." 

Afterwards, as the season advanced and the evenings be- 
came more cool, the green corn was succeeded by what is 
called pepperpot. It is composed of calveshead, fine cut 
tripe, sliced potatoes, and seasoned with capsicum and 
cloves. This feast was served in little bowls, and eaten 
from a spoon; and like the corn, eaten while standing. 
Well, I said to myself, this is the most unconventional city 
that I ever was in. Surely, " use makes master," as the old 
saying goes. The people in this city seem to eat their sup- 
per in the street, and then pick their teeth as they walk 
along. 

One Sunday I saw a crowd of people going on board a 
ferry boat that was bound for Ked Bank, on the New Jersey 
side of the Delaware river, and I took a trip also. When 
we arrived at the landing, I found that Ked Bank comprised 
one large wooden building, called the hotel, and a few 
scattering farm houses. I soon learned why people came on 
Sundays when I saw an immense pile of luscious looking 



28 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

watermelons, and rough tables and benches around it. The 
crowd hurried to the feast; each one picked out a water- 
melon, paid for it, and fell to and ate it. I did as I saw 
others do. I will say, although I had eaten watermelon in 
Vera Cruz, where it is said the}' are the best in the world, 
that the freshly gathered melons of New Jersey excel all 
others. After this "fete champetre," as there was no other 
attraction but fields of sand and watermelon patches, I took 
the next boat for the city. While we were on our way back 
I discovered that some of our passengers had found in the 
hotel at Ked Bank something very inspiring, as they were 
hilarious and somewhat noisy, but there was no trouble on 
board the steamer, and we returned to the city in safety. It 
was now verging on towards the end of September. 

When I left Boston, in the middle of Jul}', I anticipated 
being in California by the first of October, but, instead of 
that, here I was in Philadelphia, with my passage paid on 
board of a ship that was not yet ready to sail. I now felt 
the full force of the old adage that, " Hope deferred maketh 
the heart sick." I walked down to the ship on the first day 
of October, and there my eyes were gladdened by seeing a 
gang of riggers bending the sails and reeving the running 
gear. I knew that this betokened the near approach of the 
day of our departure for the land of gold. 

That evening there was an alarm of fire sounded, and the 
engines were rushing through the streets at a furious rate, 
pulled by earnest men, to the number of about fifty men to 
each engine. The fire was raging along the neighborhood 
of Shippen street. I heard that it was the Negro quarter of 
the city. The firemen were volunteers — young, zealous and 
fearless. They worked with a will to save lives and property 
without any hope of compensation or leward. In the midst 
of their dangerous labors a shot was fired, and one of their 
number, who was standing on the engine directing the stream 
of water, fell off the engine, shot dead. The exertions of 
the firemen now ceased, and they directed their attention to 
the residents of the neighborhood. In five minutes time 
the residents were fleeing in every direction, seeking safety 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 29 

from instant death at the hands of the now infuriated fire- 
men. The disturbance became so serious that the police, 
who tried to suppress it, were brushed aside like so many 
flies. The church bells were rung, and the Ma^^or read the 
riot act, but it availed naught, for the firemen were now 
frantic with rage. Finally the military was called ont, and 
something like four squares were placed under martial law. 
Neither man nor vehicle was allowed to approach the inter- 
dicted quarter, and it so continued up to the day that we 
sailed. All this tumult seemed very strange to see in a city 
that was called the "City of Brotherly Love." It sounded 
like a misnomer to me, when I remembered that about four 
years before a riot was fomented in this same city which 
culminated in the despoilment of school houses and the firing 
of church edifices. I will say for myself that in my wander- 
ings about the world I was never treated more kindly any- 
where than I was in Philadelphia. 

The day for our departure finally arrived, to my great 
delight. On this fifth day of October the South street wharf 
was all alive with the voyagers and their leave-taking friends. 
There was a large number of French gentlemen and ladies 
who had come to bid their compatriots a " bon voyage." 
The men embraced each other in a most affecting manner 
and the ladies rained kisses upon each other in a manner 
that seemed to convey to each other the ardent love they 
felt for their country people in this the land of their exile. 
As I was a mere looker-on in all this demonstration, not 
having any other friends than those persons with whom I 
had become acquainted during my two months' sojourn, I 
felt a sympathy for them when I saw how hard it seemed to 
rend the ties of long cherished friendship, perhaps never to 
be renewed. 

About eleven o'clock the steamer came alongside and her 
hawsers were passed to the ship preparatory to towing her 
down the river. South street wharf was now crowded with 
friends and lookers-on. The pilot came on board and or- 
dered the shore lines to be cast off, the steamer began to 
turn her paddles, and the ship gently moved from the wharf 



30 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

iuto the river amidst the deafening cheers of the people on 
the wharf. Just then four young men passengers who had 
no grief to express at parting from friends, jumped upon the 
deck of the upper cabin and sang in harmony and in very 
good voice the following soug of the sea: 

A life on the ocean wave, 

And a liome on the rolling deep, 
Where the scattered waters rave 

And the winds their revels keep. 
Like a bird in a cage I pine, 

While on this stand-still shore; 
O, give me the pickly brine 

And the good old ship once more. 
O, life on the ocean wave, 

And a home on the rolling deep. 
Where the scattered waters rave 

And the winds their revels keep. 

CHORUS. 

And the winds, and the winds, 
And the winds their revels keep. 

By the time the song was finished we were gliding down 
the Delaware river at an easy speed in tow of the steamer. 

At one o'clock the first dinner of the voyage was served. 
It consisted of roast beef, roast pork, boiled cabbage, sweet 
potatoes, Irish potatoes, stewed tomatoes and rice pudding. 
Thirty-one passengers sat at the table in the upper cabin, 
most of them strangers to one another. 

The first one I heard speak was a German gentleman, 
who called out, "Steward, hoif you potato more?" At 
this strange kind of English the young Pennsylvanians burst 
into a roar of laughter, which served to break the ice of re- 
serve, and a general conversation began to flow in a pleasant 
vein. I have enumerated the viands we had at our first 
dinner on the ship, and candor compels me to say that it 
was the last one we enjoyed of the kind during the voyage, 
for after that our fare consisted of salt beef, salt pork, beans, 
rice, codfish, mackerel, and potatoes while they lasted, which 
was about one month. Twice a week we had plum duff with 
raisins. The duff is composed of flour, lard, raisins, sal- 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 31 

eratus and water, with eggs mixed in when they can be had. 
When well mixed it is put into a canvas bag, wide at the top 
and very narrow at the bottom, boiled two hours and then 
turned out into a platter and served with wine sauce when 
it can be had, or else with vinegar, butter, sugar aud water 
boiled well together and thickened with flour and flavored 
with nutmeg. On other days we had boiled rice, with sugar 
for dessert. The foregoing was the cabin fare on board the 
ship " Samson." 

The steamboat towed the ship down the Delaware river 
as far as New Castle, where we came to anchor, and the 
steamer was ready to cast off; but just then there arose 
some trouble about the payment of the balance of the tow- 
age money. Capt. Blanchard came to me and said that if I 
would loan him what money I had, he would give me his 
note made payable in San Francisco, with six per cent, in- 
terest. I thought of the adage, "A bird in the hand is 
worth two in the bush," therefore I kept my money. The 
captain made a raise of the money from some of the other 
passengers and settled with the steamboatman and she was 
cast off and returned to Philadelphia. This was about 
three o'clock and the crew were turned to, to clear up the 
ship and make ready to start down the Delaware Bay. 

Some of the passengers asked of the chief mate permis- 
sion to take one of the quarter boats so as to go ashore. 
The mate said that he was willing, providing there were 
enough men among the passengers to manage the boat. This 
was easily done, and we rowed ashore aud landed in New 
Castle. We found this to be a quiet, old fashioned town in 
the State of Delaware, and as we learned it was governed by 
old fashioned laws. We visited the courthouse and the jail, 
in the yard of which we were shown the pillory and the 
whipping post, where petty thieves and other criminals of 
low degree were triced up and flogged in the style of old 
colonial days. And it is claimed that the State of Delaware 
has a smaller percentage of criminals, according to popula- 
tion, than any other State in the Union. 
That flogging is very eflScacious in preventing crime has 



32 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

been proven in many countries. At one time, when I was 
in Havana, Cuba, a negro slave, who had stolen a box of 
candles from a lot that was bein^ discharged from the vessel 
that I belonged to, and taken in the very act, was at once 
brought before the magistrate. This was about nine o'clock 
in the morning. At ten o'clock I saw the same Negro being 
led by the alyuazil or the constable and stood on the corner 
of the street, where the ofl&cer administered twelve lashes on 
the bare back with a blacksnake whip — the sentence being 
forty-eight lashes to be administered on the corners of four 
different streets facing the harbor. Our mate said to the 
clerk that was taking account of our cargo that it looked 
barbarous. The clerk said he knew it did, but if they did 
not practice such summary and vigorous measures that they 
would have to build more prisons than they had warehouses. 
"For," said he: "if we send a negro to jail he considers it 
a boon, because he obtains exemption from labor; for he is 
only taken out in the morning to sweep the streets and is 
allowed to pass the balance of the day in idleness, which all 
of his kind esteem a blessing." And it seems that the same 
disposition is manifested by idle and dissolute persons all 
over the world — they abhor work, but they dread a flogging. 

We sauntered around the town until near dark and then 
we entered a large store, where they supplied the country 
people with a great variety of goods, besides edibles and 
drinkables, including an abundant supply of old Pennsyl- 
vania rye whisky, stored in the spacious cellar. The mem- 
bers of our party had begun to " wet their whistles " as soon 
as we got ashore, and when we went into this store the most 
of them bought one or two gallon demijohns full of old rye, 
wherewith to comfort themselves during the long voyage. 
The mugs of whisky in the meantime flew around pretty 
lively, and stories were told until it was time for us to return 
to the ship. 

In our party was a retired ship captain, who had been 
enraptured by the stories of the gold discoveries in Cali- 
fornia and had determined to go out there with a stock of 
such goods as he thought he could sell. He had placed a 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 33 

large shipment on board tbe ship, such as tents, cooking 
utensils, blankets, and so forth. He was a broad faced, 
good natured looking man, and looked the very impersonation 
of good living. As Shakespeare has it, 

" In fair, round belly, with good capon lined." 

He was very jovial and very entertaining in his conver- 
sation. As he was well acquainted with the pilot who was 
to take the ship out to sea, he had obtained his permission 
to take along his seventeen year old son as far as Cape Hen- 
lopen, where the pilot boat would take off the pilot, and the 
captain's son would return to Philadelphia on board the 
first vessel that Ihe pilot would take charge of to return. 

We went to the boat landing and started for the ship. 
Everyone was jolly and hilarious, singing and laughing until 
we arrived alongside the ship. We secured the boat to the 
ship and began to climb the side ladder to go on board, 
when, unfortunately, one young man named Clayborn took 
hold of the manropes to climb up, but lost his grip and down 
he tumbled into the river between the ship and the boat. 
The potency of " old rye " had been too much for his nerves. 
We got him back into the boat after some confusion; a 
watch tackle was rigged and he was hoisted aboard the ship 
in a boatswain's chair, none the worse for the baptism which 
he had undergone. The mate ordered the quarterboat to be 
hoisted out of the water; the anchor watch was set and the 
crew went below. The passengers, one by one, turned into 
their berths to enjoy the first night's rest on board the ship. 

As I said before, I had chosen my berth just abaft the 
pantry, and therefore not far from the front entrance to the 
cabin. As I laid in my berth I heard tw'o men disputing on 
deck about the respective merits of General Scott and Gen- 
eral Taylor, both of whom had been in command in Mexico. 
Brigadier General Taylor was first in command there and 
achieved very great victories, but he was supplanted by 
Major General Scott, who was his superior ofiicer. There 
is no better w^ay to describe the difference in the two men 
than by the soubriquet that was applied to each. General 



34 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

Taylor was called "Old Rough and Eeady," while General 
Scott was called "Old Fuss and Feathers." That tells the 
whole story. One fought off hand. The other was forever 
getting ready to fight. 

Tragedy on Shipboabd. 

One of the passengers who was disputing with Capt. 
Brainard claimed to have been in Mexico with General Scott, 
and extolled his General. " What did he do?" asked the 
captain. " He took a * hasty plate of soup,' didn't he ? " "■ He 
commanded and I fought," said the volunteer. " You fought, 
did you? What did you fight — the commissary?" " I was 
in many battles," said the volunteer. " Oh, yes; in the can- 
teen, I suppose," said the captain. " Look here, my brave 
soldier, while your friend General Scott can dispatch a 
* hasty plate of soup,' my friend General Taylor can dispatch 
the enemy — horse, foot and dragoons." 

After this sally there was silence for a spell. Then they 
began again in a maudlin way. All at once Capt. Brainard 
cried out, "You have cut me! you have cut me! Help! 
help!" I jumped out of my berth and ran out on deck, where 
I found Capt. Brainard lying across the top of the booby 
hatch with the blood flowing from his throat, while the 
other man stood coolly by silently looking on. I ran back 
into the cabin and gave the alarm. All the passengers arose 
from their berths, the cai)tain was called from the lower 
cabin, and the wounded captain was taken into the cabin 
and laid upon the table. An examination showed that his 
throat was cut from ear to ear. The captain ordered the 
quarter boat lowered and manned. The mate was ordered 
to go ashore at once and get the sheriff and the doctor. 
The captain requested me to go with the mate, which I did. 
We went ashore while Doctor Doriot, one of the passengers, 
put bandages around th<> neck of the wounded man. 

When we arrived ashore it was twelve o'clock. As we 
walked up the broad street we saw a light in one house only. 
We went up to it and found that it was the hotel. The mate 
told the man in attendance what had occurred on board of 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 35 

our ship, and said that he wanted to get the sheriff and a 
doctor. The man directed us, and the mate told me to go 
for the doctor while he went for the sheriff, and we would 
meet at the boat at the landing. I went, accompanied by 
one of the sailors, and aroused the doctor, told him what 
had taken place, and begged his attendance. He at once 
prepared himself, took his satchel, and accompanied us to 
the boat. "SN'hen we arrived at the landing we found the 
mate, the sheriff and his deputy already there. We shoved 
off at once and hurried to the ship. 

When the doctor took the bandages off the patient's 
neck and examined him, he declared that it was a most 
miraculous escape from instant death. He said if the wound 
had been inflicted upon any other person then present — and 
he looked around him — it would have severed his jugular 
vein and he would have at once bled to death. He then 
opened his satchel, took out from it his paraphernalia and 
sewed up and dressed the wound. He ordered the patient 
to be taken ashore at once. 

A tackle was rigged and an arm-chair was slung, and the 
wounded man was gently lowered into the boat and stretched 
out in the stern sheets. In this way he was taken ashore, 
and, attended by the doctor, carried to the hotel. The 
other quarter boat was now lowered into the water and the 
sheriff and his deputy took the culprit in charge and were 
rowed ashore. 

The pilot went ashore with his wounded friend and saw 
that he was comfortably placed in bed in the hotel, and left 
him in charge of the doctor. The pilot persuaded Capt. 
Brainard to allow his son to take his place on board the ship 
and take charge of his papers, and when the pilot returned 
from Cape Henlopen he would bring back the father's trunks 
with the exception of such articles of wearing apparel as the 
son could use on the voyage out. All this being arranged 
satisfactorily the pilot returned to the ship and explained to 
Capt. Blanchard wdiat had been done, and he seemed to ac- 
quiesce. The mate told the captain that the sheriff had noti- 
fied him to come on shore in the morning with all those 



36 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

persons that were cognizant of what bad taken place on 
board the ship. The pilot interposed, and advised the cap- 
tain that, it being three o'clock in the morning and the wind 
having sprung up light in the northwest, that the best thing 
to be done was to up anchor and get immediately under way, 
before any legal papers could be served on the people on 
board. The reasoning of the pilot was so cogent that he 
consented that the pilot should at once get the ship under 
way and proceed down the bay. 

When the mate explained to the passengers the threatened 
legal detention, every one, even the Frenchmen, took right 
hold and helped to heave up the anchor, and pulled and 
hauled until the ship was under way and scooting down the 
bay under a freshening breeze. 

By six o'clock in the morning we were quite a distance 
down the bay. The wind being fair, the mate ordered the 
topmast studdingsails to be bent and sent out. Next the 
topgallant studdingsails were set, and the ship was making 
eight knots an hour. 

During the forenoon every time that we saw a fast sailing 
schooner overtaking us, we thought she had the sheriff on 
board to intercept us. Our fears were groundless, as many 
fast sailers passed us without taking any notice of us. By 
dinner time the passengers who had been apprehensive of 
being detained regained their equanimity and ate their din- 
ner with a relish. The northwester was now growing strong. 
The studdingsails were taken in, and the white caps on the 
bay began to give us a premonition of what we might expect 
when we got outside. By five p. m. we were abreast of 
Cape Henlopen breakwater, heading for sea. At half-past 
five the pilot boat came up under our starboard quarter and 
launched her dingey. 

The captain took charge of the ship and ordered the 
courses to be hauled up and brought the ship to the wind. 
The mainyards Avere hove back and the little dingey bobbed 
up under our lea. The captain ordered the steward to toss 
a big chunk of beef into the dingey. The captain and the 
pilot descended into the lower cabin, presumably to take an 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



37 



observation through the bottom of a p-lass. They returned 
on deck wiping the moisture from their lips. The pilot 
spoke a few words to the son of Capt. Brainard, shook hands 
with the captain, wished him a safe and pleasant voyage, and 
descended to the dingey, shoved off, and was quickly rowed 
to the pilot boat. 

As soon as the pilot left the captain ordered the helm to 
be put hard up, and the mainyards to be swung round. The 
ship was soon on her course and all sails were set. It was 
now 6:30 p. m. and we were now on the broad Atlantic, with 
the prospect of sailing many thousands of miles, and pass- 
ing through many vicissitudes before we could set our feet 
on " terra firma" again. 

The captain took his 
departure from Cape 
Henlopen, Lat. 38° 47' 
N., Long. 75° 05' W., 
distance twelve miles, 
bearing west by north. 
This was all noted down 
for the reason that if 
the sun should be ob- 
scured the following day 
the position of the ship 
could be ascertained by the distance run and the course that 
was steered. This is called dead-reckoning. The anchor 
chains were now unshackled and the plugs driven into the 
hawse holes. The headboards were taken in and the decks 
were cleared up. The breeze was freshening. The three 
royals were taken in and the mainsail was hauled up and 
furled. Our course was south-east, and the sea began to 
rise, making the ship roll just as easy as an old fashioned 
cradle. 

At half-past seven o'clock the mate called all the sailors 
to the waist of the ship and ranged them in line so as to 
choose the -watches. The first mate chose the first man, and 
that happened to be the man that was at that moment at the 
wheel. The second mate, whose name was Bryson, chose 




38 A Tale of Two Oceans 

the second man, so alternating until the twelve men were 
selected — six men in each watch — the first mate having the 
larboard watch and the second mate the starboard, or what 
is called the captain's watch. At eight bells, that was eight 
o'clock, the log Avas thrown (which is a measuring line di- 
vided into knots which mark a nautical mile to each knot), 
and it marked nine knots — or nine nautical miles per hour. 
The ship was now at her best speed, as she had a fair wind, 
and besides, all that she wanted. The second mate had the 
first watch of four hours duration, terminating at twelve 
o'clock, midnight; or, as it is called at sea, eight bells. 

Now commenced the sea mode of marking time. At half- 
past eight o'clock the man at the wheel struck one stroke on 
a small bell that was suspended upon a brass bell gallows, 
over the binnacle, where the compass is placed to guide the 
helmsman to steer the ship on her course. When the small 
bell sounded the stroke one, the man forward on the look- 
out ran to a much larger or what is called the ship's bell and 
responded by striking one stroke. So it continued to strike 
at the expiration of every half hour until the end of the 
watch, or twelve o'clock, which was eight bells. Then the 
other watch was called on deck and the watch that had al- 
ready served four hours went below to sleep four hours. At 
half-past twelve the bell was struck one stroke, as at half- 
past eight, and each half hour was added one stroke until 
the end of the watch of four hours. In order to alternate 
the watches so that one watch shall not serve at the same 
period every night and day, one four-hour watch, that from 
4 P. M. to 8 p. M., is divided into two watches, called the dog 
watches. This causes the watch that serves from 8 p. m. 
till 12, midnight, one night, to serve from 12, midnight, 
until 4 A. M. the next morning, so alternating unceasingly to 
the end of the voyage. 

The first night at sea was a novelty to many of the pas- 
sengers on board, and as the wind was fair northwest, the 
sky clear, and the air mild, many of them stayed up late. 
Mr. Bryson, the second mate, who had charge of the watch, 
told me that he was a native Philadelphian and had sailed 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 39 

for many years in Cope's line of Liverpool packets. He said 
he was bound now to make one grand stroke for a fortune 
in the mines of California, and return home and buy a little 
farm in Chester County and settle down with his family, 
"under his own vine and fig tree, with none to molest or 
make him afraid." 

The ship was steering about southeast and going along 
with an easy, rolling motion, that made newcomers think 
that going to sea was not such a hardship after all. About 
ten o'clock, or four bells, I turned in; and to me it was a 
novel experience, for never had I been on board of a ship 
before, since I ceased to be a cabin boy, without having a 
watch to stand some time during the night. 

I arose at five o'clock, or two bells, the next morning, 
and saw that the wind had moderated. The royals were set 
and the starboard watch were engaged in getting up the 
lower studding sails out of the booby hatch. By seven 
bells all the studding sails had been set alow and aloft. 
The two immense lower studding sails, with long, swinging- 
booms, made the ship look like some gigantic bird, skim- 
miug the water with its great wings spread. At eight o'clock, 
when the steward rang the bell to summon the passengers to 
breakfast, I went to the table and found there were six of 
us only. The balance of them were either looking over the 
side or lying helplessly in their berths. The rest of us had 
to eat, and we did eat. We had fried ham, boiled hominy, 
hot biscuit and coffee. 

All this day the crew were kept busy making everything 
snug on deck — lashing spars, water casks, barrels of beef, 
pork and crates of potatoes and onions. The ship was now 
rolling before the wind like an old fashioned seventy-four 
gun ship. Every few minutes the lower stun' sail booms 
would swoop into the water, first on one side, then on the 
other, with force enough to almost wrench them from their 
sockets in the deck stancbions. 

At twelve meridian the captain, who had been observing 
the sun with his sextant, sung out, "Twelve o'clock!" at 
which the man at the wheel struck eight bells, and the bell 



40 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

abaft the foremast was struck responsive; the mate corrected 
the marine clock in the binnacle to correspond to the change 
in longitude. 

When the dinner bell rang at one o'clock, the same per- 
sons appeared as at breakfast. They, being old shellbacks, 
were not affected by the motion of the ship. The dinner 
consisted of salt beef, salt pork, cabbage, potatoes, and plum 
duff with wine sauce. There we sat and enjoyed our dinner, 
while the poor fellows that were lying in their berths wished 
that they had gone to California by ox team or stayed at 
home in comfort. But we knew that their discomfort was 
only temporary and that in a day or two they would be able 
to eat their allowance with a better relish than they ever did 
before. 

It must be borne in mind that a man who started for 
California in those days had to be a man of substance, with 
sufficient means to support his family during his absence 
and have enough besides to pay his OAvn expenses to reach 
the land of gold. Therefore, it may be safely said that a 
finer, more enterprising or determined body of men never 
collected before, than those that came to California from the 
year 1849 to 1852. 

Our fellow passengers were unnerved and weakened by 
the terrible seasickness, but when they recovered from it 
and their natural buoyant ambition reasserted itself, they 
showed themselves to be men fit to found a State on the 
Pacific Slope. 

The fair wind continued for two days, after which it mod- 
erated to a four knot breeze and the sky became overclouded. 
We were now approaching the Gulf Stream, and the captain 
ordered one of the men to draw a bucket of water from over 
the ship's side, wherein he immersed the thermometer, to 
ascertain the temperature of the ocean. 

The Gulf Stream is a subaqueous stream of water that 
commences to flow in the Gulf of Mexico, thence into the 
Straits of Florida between the Florida Coast and the Island 
of Cuba and the Bahama Islands. Its course is to the north- 
east and its speed, between the Capes of Florida and the 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 41 

Double-headed Sliot Keys is often as much as six miles per 
hour. It pours into the Atlantic Ocean, continuing its 
course within a distance of from two hundred to as near as 
forty miles from the coast off Cape Hatteras, until it loses 
itself beyond the Labrador Coast in the vicinity of the Banks 
of New Foundland. The temperature is from ten to fifteen 
degrees warmer than the water on each side of it. In the 
winter time vessels that approach the Gulf Stream from the 
frozen coast of New England can discern it by the dense 
vapor that hangs over it, reminding them of a huge cauldron 
of boiling water emitting volumes of steam. The Gulf 
Stream is much more liable to storms than the Atlantic 
Ocean is on either side of it. 

We were now getting into the gulf stream and the cap- 
tain was apprehensive of the approach of the line gale, so 
called because the sun crosses the equator to the south 
about the twenty-second of September, and it is always fol- 
low^ed by a gale of wind, more or less severe, within a 
month thereafier. 

In the month of October, 1843, was the most terrific and 
disastrous gale of any known up to that time on the coast of 
New England. Cape Cod and Cape Ann alone lost more 
than forty vessels that had been engaged in fishing and 
coasting. The devastating effects of the gale reached as far 
south as the Savannah river. Therefore, knowing all this, 
the captain was very careful for the safety of the ship. 

At 8 P. M., the wind being baffling and the sky obscured 
by heavy clouds, the captain ordered the second mate, who 
had the first watch that night, to call him if there was the 
least change in the weather. The barometer was falling, 
which was a sure indication of an approaching change in the 
weather and a probable storm. At four bells the wind was 
like a faint breath and the sails were lazily flapping against 
the masts with every undulation of the ship. At six bells 
the second mate watched the barometer, which hung in the 
upper cabin, and found that the mercury was falling apace. 
The indications were so threatening that the second mate 
went into the lower cabin and called Capt. Blanchard. He 



42 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

soon came on deck with Lis English pea-jacket and his sou'- 
wester on and trumpet in hand. He scanned the weatlier 
horizon for a minute and then told the second mate to call 
all hands. 

I was standing on the quarter deck when the captain 
came up, and when I saw his fine, manly form and his com- 
manding appearance, it inspired me with a confidence in his 
ability as a master of a ship. But, I thought, what a pity 
it was that so fine and dignified a body should contain so 
small and narrow soul. The watch soon tumbled up and in 
the meantime the captain had ordered the royals and top- 
gallant sails to be furled. Next the courses were hauled up 
and furled, the fore and main spencers were brailed up, and 
the flying jib was stowed. It now began to spit rain, and 
was as dark as a nigger's pocket. 

The second mate reported to the captain that the barom- 
eter stood 29.05. Still there was no wind. The fore and 
mizzentopsails were clewed down and furled. Then the 
maintopsail was close reefed and the jib was hauled down 
and stowed. Now the ship was under snug sail, close reefed 
maintopsail, forestaysail and th© spanker, still there was no 
wind, but there were portentious signs of impending trouble. 

About eight bells there was a sound in the air like the 
escaping of suppressed steam, sounding like "sizzz, sizzz." 
The sound grew louder and louder and nearer. The sea 
began to display phosphorescent glittering particles as 
though it was in a blaze. The sky was as black as a pall. 
All at once the gale struck the ship and threw her nearly on 
her beam ends. I never received such a shock in all my 
experience. The maintopsail, although nearly new and 
close reefed, was blown out of the boltropes as if it had 
been tissue paper. The spanker followed the topsail, while 
the forestaysail held its own. The captain ordered the helm 
to be put hard up, and ordered an additional man to the 
wheel. The ship obeyed the helm promptly and began to 
pay off and was soon before the wind. The forestaysail was 
now taken in and the ship was scudding under bare poles 
before the terrible hurricane. At the first blast of the gale 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 43 

the sea was comparatively smooth, but in a short time the 
big combers began to lift near the stern. An hour after the 
gale struck the ship the seas were running mountains high. 
We were running before a terrific southeaster, and the ship 
creaked and groaned in every joint and it seemed as if she 
could not hold together. Great combers arose near our 
stern, as if they were about to engulf us, but each time the 
ship would shoot ahead and escape. The captain ordered 
that life lines be placed around the waists of the two men at 
the helm, and that the ends be well secured. The huge 
waves, with crested heads, would seem like living sea mon- 
sters looking at us, fifty feet over our heads, as though they 
would overwhelm and engulf us at once. The ship behaved 
beautifully and proved herself a fine seaboat, and rose and 
fell in harmony with each passing wave as it swept past us. 
All at once an ugly towering wave approached the ship from 
astern. It came with overwhelming force. The captain 
sung out, "Look out!" and the sea came over the stern and 
pooped the ship. It swept everything before it. The two 
men at the helm were carried from their post as if they had 
been two wisps of straw, but the precautionary measures 
taken by the captain saved them, and the life lines enabled 
them to save themselves from injury. The lower cabin sky- 
light was wrenched from its fastenings and the cabin was 
drenched with water. The starboard quarter boat was lifted 
from its fastenings and wedged between the bulwark and 
the upper cabin. The ship was waterlogged, and every- 
thing that was not well secured on the main deck was float- 
ing around, thereby endangering the lives of the men, who 
were hanging on to anything that was solid enough to hold 
on by. The upper cabin was full of water up to the first 
tier of berths. The steward and the cook, who had their 
room abaft the galley, were nearly carried overboard, but 
were saved by the brawny arms of the second mate, Mr. 
Bryson. The ship had nearly lost her steerageway. The 
captain and mate were the first to jump to the helm, and for 
five minutes it seemed as if it was all up with us. After 
that the ship began to free herself and obeyed her helm. 



44 A Tate of Two Oceans. 

The decks were being freed from the water that was swash- 
ing about, and we began to breathe easier. 

Daylight now began to appear, and the captaiu ordered 
the mate to get out a new maintopsail out of the saih-oom 
and have it bent. All hands were set to work, and after 
long continued labor and much risk, it was bent. It was at 
once close reefed and set. Now came the most dangerous 
performance that a ship can be subjected to when she has 
been running before the wind in a gale; that is, to bring her 
up to the wind without swamping her. The captain ordered 
all hands to man the braces, and watched his opportunity — 
for in the severest gale there are periods when the waves 
don't break so hard, for a short spell, as they do in its most 
furious moments. The watched for chance came. "Portyour 
helm four spokes," said the captain. "Aye, aye, sir!" was 
answered by the man at the wheel. ' ' Ease away on your star- 
board braces and haul in on vour lee ones.'' It was done. 
The ship came up gently — she came up to the trough of the 
sea. Now was our greatest danger. "' Hard down your helm ! 
Slack away on your weather braces and haul in sharp on 
your lee ones." The ship came up sharply, and just then a 
sea struck her amidships and broke over the starboard side 
and partially filled the decks, but the ship continued to come 
up to the wind until she lay close to the wind, and was 
lying to with an easy motion. 

The captain now ordered the steward to go down into 
the ran of the ship and draw a bucket of New England rum 
and bring it on deck. The ram was brought up, and also a 
pitcher and two tumblers, and placed near the capstan. 
The captain told the mate to treat the men. Mr. Eryson, 
the second mate, sang out: "Lay aft here, all hands, and 
splice the main brace ! " ' 'Aye, aye, sir ! " responded the men 
in one voice, as they hurried aft to the capstan. Then Mr. 
Bryson filled the pitcher from the bucket of rum and served 
each man with a generous nip in the tumbler. When all the 
sailors had been served, then came his turn to serve himself 
and the good-hearted Mr. Bryson took the traditional second 
mate's nip, four fingers and a thumb; or, more plainly speak- 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 45 

ing, the biggest of the two tumblers, brimful, as the motion 
of the ship allowed. After this hearty swig he took a long 
breath, smacked his lips, and said: " I wish my mother had 
fed me with just such porridge as that." 

It was soon discovered that the ship being trimmed too 
much by the stern she payed ofi too much and shipped some 
water. The captain then ordered the storm trysail to be 
brought up and bent; as soon as this aftersail was put on the 
ship, although it was a very small sail made of extra heavy 
canvas, it brought the ship up to the wind, and she rode like 
a duck on the water, for the storm trysail, at the mizzen, 
kept her nose well up to the wind and she rode safely. The 
barometer had now fallen to 29°, and the gale continued un- 
abated, and the wind veered from east southeast to south 
southeast. 

This terrible storm reminded me of the words of Holy 
Writ: "Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east 
wind " — (48th Psalms, 7th verse). Thus showing clearly that 
even in the day of King David the east wind was greatly 
dreaded. 

Now that everything had been made as snug as possible 
under the very trying circumstances, the men whose watch 
was below were allowed to go to their four hours rest, which 
they sadly needed; while the watch on deck had only to 
stand by the helm, which was kept hard down and lashed 
there, while one man kept a look-out ahead. These men, 
when passing about the decks, were obliged to hold on to 
the life-lines that had been stretched fore and aft along the 
bulwarks. Thus the ship continued for two days. 

During this time we had not seen the sun for more than 
two minutes at a time, therefore we were unable to obtain 
an observation; for that reason the captain had to trust to 
his dead-reckoning in order to ascertain the position of the 
ship. 

On the third night, about nine o'clock, when darkness of 
the densest kind prevailed and the wind was whistling 
through the rigging and producing sounds like a mournful 
requiem, a phenomenon appeared which struck fear into the 



46 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

stoutest heart. This was the appearance of three li'^htning 
balls or corposants — one on the main truck, and one each 
on the ends of the maint'gallant yard. This, it was thought, 
portended some dreadful catastrophe. It caused every one 
that saw it to feel very uneasy. Although I had seen the 
like before I still was noAv very seriously impressed by this 
awful sign in the heavens, under such conditions, with wind 
roaring, the great waves mountain high and foaming and 
breaking. I derived comfort from the poetic lines of Thomas 
Dibden: "There is a sweet little Cherub who sits up aloft 
that looks out for the life of poor Jack." These words gave 
me much comfort and did much to allay my apprehensions. 
By 10 p. M. the gale began to abate. It would blow vio- 
lently for ten to fifteen minutes and then gradually subside. 
By 11 o'clock P. M. there was a change taking place in the 
weather. It had been dark up to that time, but it became 
so dark now that a man could not see his hand before him. 
The chief mate went and called the captain, who came on 
deck at once. As the ship was under the shortest possible 
sail, nothing more could be done in that direction. We 
waited for events. The three fiery balls had vanished, and 
the wind had lulled to a mere breeze. The ship was now 
rolling and pitching in obedience to the motion of the tum- 
bling waves. Suddenly, without premonition, there was a 
blinding flash of lightning that illuminated the space around 
and showed every part of the ship and masts and rigging as 
clearly as if it had been high noon on a clear day. Then 
followed a noise so tremendous that it was indescribable. 
Just imagine that one thousand steam railroad engines, 
coming from opposite directions and meeting on a bridge 
that spans a mountain over a chasm hundreds of feet in 
depth, and in the very center of it coming in contact and 
crashing in one fell swoop and falling to the very bottom of 
the abyss, and the same instant exploding the boilers of 
every one of them. This would be dreadful, but it would 
bear but a faint comparison to the clap of thunder which 
followed the lightning's flash. Every man on the deck was 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 47 

thrown down by the dreadful shock. The ship trembled 
like an aspen leaf, and we all thought that the thunderbolt 
had struck her, but, thanks to a kind Providence, she was 
spared. This was followed by a stillness that was painful 
to experience. Every man on board the ship jumped out of 
his berth and waited in fear and trembling for what would 
come next. We soon felt large drops of rain falling; ii came 
faster and more of it, until it seemed as if the very flood- 
gates of heaven had been entirely opened. It poured in such 
volume that the scuppers could not free the deck and the 
portholes bad to be opened. The men had to hold on to 
life lines while they were wading about the deck, and what- 
ever small articles that were not secured floated out to sea 
through the portholes. The sea, which had been so rough, 
was actually beaten down by the force of the rain to the 
smoothness of a millpond. 

In about half an hour the rain began to slack. There 
were rifts in the clouds that allowed us to get a glimpse of 
the clear blue sky. Soon the rain ceased altogether and the 
beautiful blue vault of heaven, with its myriad of stars, was 
again in full view, while the clouds were rolling to the south 
and southeast. A breeze sprung up from the nor'west and 
the captain ordered the fore and mizzentopsails set, and 
the reefs to be shaken out of the maintopsail. The courses 
were next loosed and dropped, and one after another every 
sail was set to the favoring breeze. Daylight was now com- 
ing on apace and brought to my mind the beautiful hymn : 

' ' The light of day is breaking, 
The darkness disappears." 

All hands were now busy making sail, as the weather was 
. now promising in its signs. The barometer had risen to 30, 
and still rising. Soon the rays in the eastern horizon gave 
us premonition of the coming of the be?iutiful orb of day, 
the sun. It soon arose from its ocean bed in all its glorious 
effulgence, giving promise of a clear day and pleasant 
weather. Our hearts now turned to God in silent thankful- 
ness for his mercy and loving kindness in having thus spared 
us from a terrible fate. 



48 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

" The spacious firmanent on high, 
With all the blue ethereal sky, 
And spangled heaven's shining frame, 
Their great original proclaim. 
The unwearied san from day to day, 
Does his creator's powers display. 
And publishes to every land. 
The work of an almighty hand." 

At 8 A. M. the mate came on deck with his sextant and 
observed the altitude of the sun, while the captain marked 
the time by the chronometer in the cabin. By this process 
the navigator can ascertain the distance, east or west, from 
Greenwich, which is the initial point for longitude iu all the 
English and American charts. 

At 12 meridian, when the sun had reached its zenith, the 
captain and the mate having noted its altitude iu degrees by 
sextant, figured out the latitude, thereby ascertaining the 
exact position of the ship upon the broad ocean, thereby 
proving the advantages of the noble science of navigation. 
During the day the deck and lower rigging were covered 
with a miscellaneous collection of sailors' and passengers' 
clothing which had been hung up to dry, reminding me of 
the second-hand clothing stores on Chatham street, in New 
York. Every face on board the ship wore a smiling look. 
The terrible experience which we had passed through had 
produced a softening influence on all of us. On this day 
the cook exerted himself and prepared a sea pie for our din- 
ner. A sea pie consists of onions fried brown, lean pork, 
cut in small pieces, potatoes cut in quarters, and then all 
simmered together; then make dough enough to cover the 
sides of the baking pan, and after the sides are covered, put 
in the filling of stew, season with tomato ketchup and pep- 
per, sprinkle in a little dry flour to thicken it, and cover the 
pan with a thick crust and put it in the oven for two hours. 
In the absence of chicken or fresh beef this is a very palata- 
ble dish. Besides the pie we had a large plum-dufi'. The 
dinner was eaten with thankful hearts which gave it relish, 
it being the first regular cooked dinner in four days. The 
weather had now settled down pleasant with a steady six 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 49 

knot breeze. We now discovered a new source of worri- 
ment and anxiety. The late gale had so strained th« ship 
that she had began to leak quite seriously. Pumping the 
usual time of fifteen minutes we found that the water was 
not out of the ship, so the second mate took the sounding 
rod and shoved it down into the pumpwell. When he drew 
out the rod he measured, and found that at least fourteen 
inches of water remained in the ship. The ship had two 
very fine metallic pumps which the captain said had been 
placed in her on the last voyage he made to Liverpool. 
They were worked by a rotary crank attached to which was a 
very heavy flywheel, and the two pumps threw water quite 
equal in volume to a fire engine. With this double geared 
apparatus the crew, with the aid of the passengers, freed 
the ship of the water in the space of two hours. When the 
pumps began to suck our fears were relieved, for it proved 
to us that the leak was not beyond our control. 

The captain now ordered the mates to have the ship 
pumped out every two hours instead of every four hours as 
heretofore. This increased leak of course augmented the 
labor of the crew very much and thereby created a certain 
measure of discontent among them, and more particularly 
as their food was inferior in quality, and not very well pre- 
pared at that, as the captain never approached the galley 
or seemed to care as to how his sailors fared. The cook 
took advantage of the indifl'erence of the captain about the 
welfare of the sailors and served out their food in a happy- 
go-lucky kind of manner, that proved the truth of the old 
adage, " like master like man," and the sailors were the suf- 
ferers. Salt meat, not soaked and but half cooked, beans 
as hard as bullets, and the duff as heavy as lead. As I was 
a sailor myself I took notice of all this. 

We were now in latitude 31 07 N., and longitude 52 15 
W. The gale of the past week had driven us back over the 
greatest part of our distance previously gained; but now we 
had settled, clear weather and a fair wind. The passengers 
now cast about for something to do in order that the time 
might pass by pleasantly. Keading and talking becomes 



50 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

irksome after a time; therefore a class was formed to learn 
the French language. Mon. Bayard, a learned French gen- 
tleman, was selected to be the teacher, but we soon found 
out that in order to teach us the French language he would 
be obliged to first learn the English language. In order to 
overcome this difficulty we appealed to Dr. Doriot, a gentle- 
man who was born in Philadelphia of French parents, and 
therefore was thoroughly conversant with the French lan- 
guage as well as his native English. The doctor showed no 
disposition to aid us. He preferred to read French novels 
and smoke cigars at his ease. For this reason we made but 
sorry progress with our French lessons. 

Capt. Blanchard was a man that boasted a great deal 
about what he used to do when he was mate in the " Black 
Ball " line of packets that ran between New York and Liver- 
pool. That, as a mate of a ship, he had never been in a 
vessel where there was an afternoon watch below allowed, 
and as master of a ship he had never allowed it nor would 
he allow it on this voyage only at such times as when the 
sliip would be put under double reefed topsails. At other 
times, all hands should be on deck from 1 p. M. till 5 P. M., 
at which time the men could take their supper. He in- 
structed his two mates to enforce this rule — under this rule 
all hands had to work on the rigging, or making chafing mats 
or mending the sails, during the afternoons. His boast was 
that when he was mate of the ship " Roscius," of the " Black 
Ball" line, that the shipping master would put a crew on 
board who would give it out on board that they were deter- 
mined to carry everything before them with a high hand; 
but they would find out, to their sorrow, before the ship ar- 
rived in Liverpool, that they had reckoned without their 
host. "For," said he, "my rule with sailors was a word 
and a blow, and the blow came first. I was at one time mate 
with Capt. Jabez Percival, an old Cape Cod man, on the 
ship ' Lady Siddons.' And he used to say to me, ' Walk in- 
to the scoundrels, Mr. Blanchard, and I'll back you up, sir. 
Give it to 'em, right and left, and keep 'em on a jump. I'll 
tell you what, Mr. Blanchard, there was an old Grand Bank 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



51 



fishing captain in my town named Capt. Dean Linnell, and 
be was noted for bringing home every fall a larger catch of 
codfish than any other Grand Banker that cleared out of the 
Barnstable custom house. His motto was: "I'll keep no 
more cats than what will catch mice." And every man that 
ships aboard my schooner is given to understand that his 
fishing line must be kept over the side every day. excepting 
Sundays, or when the weather will not permit it. And from 
the strict adherence to this practice comes my success.' 
Then," said the captain, " keep all hands on deck, Mr, 
Cranston, all afternoons when the weather will permit." 
The leak was not increasing but it was bad enough to keep 
the watch pumping for half an hour in every two hours; 
this, added to their regular duties, made it quite severe on 
the crew. 

It was the fifteenth day out, in the forenoon, while I 
was sitting on a water cask over the main hatch, that Capt. 
Blanchard came to where I sat and saluted me in a most 
cordial manner. " Well," said he, " What are you reading 
so earnestly ? " "I am reading the life of Benjamin Frank- 
lin." "Well, that is an instructive book; but it seems to 
me that time must hang very heavy on your hands." " No, 
sir; I like to read instructive books, and Franklin lays down 
some excellent maxims for young men, to guide them in 
life." He then proceeded: "What do you think of the 
gale that we have passed through?" "I think, sir, that it 
was the most severe that I ever have experienced." "Is 
that so ? " "Yes, sir." " While I admit that it was a pretty 
severe spell of bad weather, I'll tell you it wasn't a circum- 
stance to the one I was in when I was mate of the ' Shak- 
speare,' in the 'Black Ball' line, with Capt. Nye in com- 
mand — and a better man never trod a ship's deck. We left 
New York for Liverpool on the thirtieth day of November. 
As we passed out by Sandy Hook the wind was west uor'west 
and a stiff breeze. The weather was clear and a high ba- 
rometer. We put every inch of canvas on the ship, and 
she felt it. It sent her a-kiting through the water. We 
came up with a number of coasters and we went by them as 



52 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

if they were lying at anchor. We carried the breeze vary- 
ing from west nor'west to west southwest, until we were over 
the banks of New Foundland, and we had a fine prospect 
for a quick passage. The crew, as is usual in the Liverpool 
trade, were a hard set. But I had a splendid after guard. 
The second mate, Simpson by name, was a regular Hercules 
in size, and svas as spry as a cat. When I first got ac- 
quainted with him he was taking a little recreation onshore, 
and to pay expenses had hired a room in Maiden Lane and 
was giving lessons in boxing. I was introduced to him by a 
friend who was mate of the ship 'Prince Albert,' and visited 
his place on such evenings as I could spare from my other 
engagements while in port. I considered myself no chicken 
in handling my flippers at that time, and I put on the box- 
ing gloves with him, after paying one dollar, which was his 
price for each lesson of half an hour's duration. The first 
evening of the lesson he let me have everything my own 
way. I tapped him on his bread-basket, tickled him in the 
ribs, punched him on the nose, and gave him a whack on 
the chin. Well, sir, I was fairly beside myself with delight. 
I never had such a high opinion of my skill before that eve- 
ning, after my bout with Simpson. He congratulated me 
for my skill and quickness, while several of the spectators, 
who had been looking on, shook hands with me, and said I 
was a trump. Simpson had a small bar fitted up at the fur- 
ther end of the room, which was attended to by an old ship- 
mate of his. I asked all hands up to smile; and all hands 
did smile. That took another two dollars, but I didn't mind 
the expense, for I felt grand. Simpson asked me when would 
I call upon him again? I replied that it would be impos- 
sible to come the next evening as I had an engagement, but 
on the evening following I would come, sure. So I left him, 
feeling myself to be equal to Tom Hyer, the celebrated 
pugilist of New York. 

" The second evening after that I went to Simpson's box- 
ing school, paid my dollar, put on the boxing gloves to take 
my half hour lesson. He had a larger number of scholars 
than he had when I was there the first time. He put ou his 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 53 

gloves and we stood facing each other. I didn't like his 
looks. He looked wicked around the eyes. I began to lose 
confidence in myself; but I stood up to him, as I knew that 
he would not hit very hard. However, he sung out to me, 
* Look oat.' When bang ! went his right on my chin. Next 
his left caromed on my stomach. Then he swiped me all 
round. In fact, I found Simpson to be a complete thrash- 
ing machine. In fifteen minutes I had all the boxing lesson 
that I wanted for that night. I took off the gloves, treated 
all hands, and bid them all good night. Well, sir, I felt 
mortified; I was completely cowed. I had the conceit 
thoroughly taken out of me. The truth was that whereas 
I had thought myself a pretty tough man to handle, Simp- 
son had taught me that I was but a. baby in the fighting line. 
I conceived a plan in my mind and proceeded to carry it out. 
Ou the next evening I called upon Simpson and proposed to 
him that he join the ' Shakspeare ' on the next voyage if I 
could arrange the matter with Oapt. Nye. He agreed to do 
so, providing that I could make a definite engagement with 
him before the ship sailed. I approached the subject with 
Capt. Nye by speaking of the second mate, whose name was 
Sears, and said to the captain that while Sears was an am- 
bitious and industrious young man that he was not equal to 
handling a crew that was composed of such a hard lot as was 
generally found on board of a * Black Ball '" liner, and con- 
sequently it was my opinion that a man of more force of 
character and greater determination would secure far better 
service in working the ship. I then told him of a man that 
I knew who had been second mate of the packet ship ' Lady 
Washington,' but was now disengaged, and probably could 
be secured for the next voyage. I studiously refrained from 
mentioning anything about his pugilistic abilities, because 
it might have prejudiced the captain against him. For, 
while Capt. Nye never interfered wdth me in the management 
of the crew, he well knowing that they scarcely ever made 
more than one voyage in the same ship, still he was averse 
to having any trouble between his officers and his men if it 
could be avoided. Capt. Nye was somewhat religious in his 



54 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

predilections, so much so that he at one time bought a mag- 
nificent bible, and purple cushion to place it on, for the pul- 
pit of the church in which he worshiped in his boyhood 
days, in his native town in Massachusetts. At another time 
he had a large bell cast in Troy, New York, which he sent 
to his native town to be placed in the belfry of the same 
church. Therefore, knowing his conservative disposition, I 
said nothing about Simpson's knocking down proclivities. 
When I pointed out the advantage that would accrue to the 
working of the ship he gave his consent for me to engage 
Simpson to come on board when the ship returned from 
Liverpool. Before we left I made the arrangement with 
Simpson to join the ship on the next voyage. At the time 
of which I am now speaking we had laid in the stream for 
two days waiting for a crew. Most of the sailors that sailed 
in the Liverpool packets during the summer months preferred 
to ship to go by the run to New Orleans or Mobile in the 
fall of the year and spend the winter in the south loading 
ships with cotton for Europe, and in the spring, when the 
season of business activity had ended, they would ship in 
cotton loaded ships for Liverpool or Havre, at $25.00 or 
$30.00 for the run. There they would enjoy themselves 
while the money lasted, and then make their way back to 
America. For this reason we had to take such men as the 
shippiug master could pick up. In consequence we had as 
villainous a looking twenty men as I ever was shipmates 
with. 

" During the first two days after we left Sandy Hook all 
hands were engaged securing everything about the decks and 
putting on the chafing gear. It had been my practice to 
have both watches on deck from 1 p. m. till 5 P. M., every 
day excepting Sunday or when stormy weather prevented it. 
Well, as I said before, Simpson was the second mate; Ste- 
vens the bos'n was an Irishman, and he was a terror to evil- 
doers; then there was Chips the cai-penter, and Olsen the 
sailmaker, everyone of 'em as true as steel, and could be de- 
pended on. Well, sir, on the third day out, at 1 o'clock in 
the afternoon, I told the bos'n to turn all hands to work. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 55 

He went forward to the forecastle, which was in the forward 
deck house, which was divided into galley in the after part 
and forecastle in the forward part, which had a door on each 
side. He called ail hands to turn to work. But not a man 
stepped out on deck. He went the second time with the 
same result. 

" I held a short consultation with the second mate, after 
which I called the carpenter and the sailmaker, who were 
located by themselves, and with bos'n just abaft the main- 
mast, and ordered them to join us, and we went forward in 
a body. I stood in the doorway of the forecastle and sung 
out: ' Come out of that, every one of you! ' But not a man 
stirred. Then the leader spoke up and said : ' I have made 
many a winter passage from New York to Liverpool and this 
is the first time I was ever called upon to turn to work in 
my afternoon watch below, after everything was made snug 
and the chafing gear put on; and I will speak for myself and 
all my shipmates — we are not going to do it now. Either 
give us the afternoon watch below or you may sail the ship 
yourself.' No sooner had he spoken than I made a jump for 
him. As I grabbed him by his collar he let fly at me with 
his right fist. But I had been there before, and I warded 
off the blow, which he intended should be a sockdolager for 
me. I let go my grip on him, and fetched him a blow under 
his ear which felled him like an ox. At this Simpson sailed 
in, and the bos'n wasn't behind hand, while Chips and the 
sailmaker brought up the rear. 

" Simpson maintained his reputation in splendid style. 
He would take a man by the nape of the neck and the slack 
of his breeches and would toss him out on deck the same 
as if he had been a feather pillow. After a half dozen of 
them had been thrown into the lee scuppers the balance of 
them didn't stand upon the order of their going but went 
out on deck at once. Every man went to work just as if 
nothing had happened, and I must say that a better set of 
men I never had under my control than what they proved 
themselves to be after that day. 

*' As I said, we had the prospect of a quick run to Cape 



56 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

Clear until the fourteenth daj, when the wind moderated 
and the weather showed signs of a change taking place. The 
clouds began to gather in the eastward. The wind had 
backed around to east nor'east and it was light aud baffling. 
The barometer was falling, and all signs betokened the ap- 
proach of a gale. The captain ordered that all the light sails 
be taken in and the topsails be double reefed. We kept her 
along under double reefed topsails and courses for a while. 
In the meantime the swell was coming from the nor'east, 
which presaged a blow from that quarter. I had the first 
watch on deck that night and the captain told me to call him 
if any change took place. About four bells the wind from 
the nor'east began to freshen and pipe up pretty lively. I 
called the captain, who came on deck at once. After five 
minutes he ordered the mainsail to be hauled up and furled. 
The jib was taken in and stowed. The foresail was hauled 
up and furled. The spanker was taken in and the ship was 
now under double reefed topsails, foretopmast staysail, and 
fore and main spencers. Finally, the ship was put under 
close reefed maintopsail, foretopmast staysail, and the 
storm trysail at the mizzen. The wind kept increasing, 
and the barometer fell to 29 inches — a sure sign of a heavy 
blow. A drizzling rain began to fall, and finally we had to 
take everything but the close reefed maintopsail, mizzen 
storm trysail, and foretopmast staysail. At seven bells the 
gale had so much increased that we had to take in every- 
thing and heave the ship to under close reefed maintopsail. 
"I went below at 1 A. M. and turned into my berth, hav- 
ing taken oft" my peajacket and boots. I was in a light sleep 
when I was startled by a crashing and thundering sound that 
shook the ship like a reed. I rushed upon deck and every- 
thing was in the utmost confusion. The ship was taking 
aboard water, over the lee bulwarks, by the ton, while the 
three topgallantmasts — which had been carried away clear 
down to the caps — were dangling, held by the rigging, and 
pounding the ship, on the lee side, at every plunge she made. 
The captain ordered the wreck of spars to be cut and cleared 
away, as nothing could be saved from them; and then we 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 57 

proceeded to make everything safe. But we had not seen it 
all yet, for the ship dipped her bow into a heavy sea which 
filled the decks with water, and when she raised, we found 
that the jib-boom and the flying jib-boom had both been car- 
ried away, and were pounding the ship abreast of the lee 
forerigging. Then all hands turned to and made every ef- 
fort to save some of the paraphernalia, but without avail, as 
the seas were making a clean breach over the ship, making 
it impossible to work, so that everything had to be cut away 
and clear from the ship. The ship now looked very dilapi- 
dated. But after the wreck of the spars and rigging were 
cleared away she laid close to the wind and rode the waves 
with dry decks. Well, we were hove-to for five successive 
days, and as the wind and current had taken us as far south 
as 40 degrees of latitude we were nearly as far south as the 
Azores Islands. 

"On the sixth day after the gale came on the weather 
began to improve, the wind moderated and all hands turned 
to work to repair damages that had been caused by the gale. 
The wind veered around to the southward and we shaped 
our course for Saint George's Channel. The carpenter was 
set to work to get out the three new to'gallant masts and a 
jib-boom. We had rough spars enough, also had some 
already prepared to answer for to'gallant yards. Simpson, 
who could handle a drawing knife or a spoke shave as deftly 
as a carpenter, turned in to help Chips while I took charge 
of the refitting of the rigging. We got out the maintop- 
gallantmast first, sent it up and fitted the yards and sails. 
Then followed the jib-boora and all the other spars in rapid 
succession until by the time we entered Saint George's Chan- 
nel everything aloft was ' shipshape and Bristol fashion.' 

"As we approached the Mersey the pilot came on board. 
He told the captain that the consignees of the cargo had be- 
come apprehensive that the ship would never arrive in port, 
and had consequently eflected additional insurance on their 
consignments at very high rates. Well, after all our dan- 
gers and the buffetings the ship had received, we arrived in 
Albert dock in Liverpool after a passage of fifty-six days. 



58 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

"Capt. Nye was so well pleased with the capabilities of 
Simpson, the second mate, that he complimented me for 
having such good judgment in selectiDg him, and made him 
a present of a patent lever English silver watch with a suit- 
able inscription on it as a token of his regard. 

" Now I'll tell you a plan that I have evoJved iu my mind, 
which, if you will agree to and accept, will be very satis- 
factory to me in the present, while it will be beneficial to 
you when we arrive in San Francisco." 

"What plan is that. Captain ? " 

"You listen and I'll tell you. I find that several of my 
crew are nothing more than sloop sailors. Good enough to 
pull and haul about the decks but not good for anything 
when it comes to working aloft. When they get above the 
maintop it is all they can do to hold on with both hands, 
and therefore they are unable to do the necessary work. 
This, combined with the additional labor which the leaking 
of the ship has imposed on all hands, is becoming hard on 
the whole crew. In looking over the list of consignees I 
found your name and saw that the amount of your freight is 
one hundred and fifty-four dollars. That amount you will 
have to pay when we arrive in San Francisco before you can 
get the order for your goods. Now, as I have said, I find 
that another man to take hold and work will be a great ad- 
vantage to me, and I know that you are not as contented as 
you would be if you had something to do. You are a sailor 
and I think if you will take hold and work you will be far 
more contented. My plan is this: as your cabin passage is 
paid that you continue in the cabin; that you turn to, stand 
watch, hand, reef and steer and help to work the ship, but 
do no other work, such as working on the rigging or mend- 
ing sails. Your wages shall be thirty dollars per month 
from this time until we arrive in San Francisco. This is a 
good chance for you and you had better agree to it, and by 
this afternoon you can come into the lower cabin and give 
me your answer." 

The captain then went aft and left me to cogitate over 
his proposition. I knew that he was anxious to enlist me in 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



59 



his service, and it was for that reason that he seemed to un- 
bend himself in my company. I thought of the words of 
Shakespeare : ' * He bends the pregnant hinges of the knee, 
that thrift may follow fawning." However that may have 
been I felt that the offer was an advantageous one for me, 
and I accordingly went to the captain and told him that I 
was willing to go to work. " Well," said he, "I'm glad of 
it. You needn't sign the articles, but simply report to Mr. 
Bryson, in whose watch I place you." 

I went into the cabin, changed my clothes, went out on 
deck and reported to the second mate, whose watch it was, 
that I was ready for duty. " Well, young fellow," said he, 
"the old man (the captain is always called the old man, 
though he be a boy) has told me that he has shipped you 
for the balance of the voyage, and I'm blamed glad of it, for 
three of the men in my watch are nothing but sloop sailors 
and when I send 'em aloft to do anything it seems to be all 
they can do is to hold on with tooth and toe-nail to keep 
from falling overboard. They grab the shrouds so hard that 
they squeeze the tar right out of 'em. They may do well 
enough on board of a Grand Bank fisherman, but I'm blamed 
if they are of much use here when they get above the bul- 
warks. As the old man has put you in my watch you may 
begin by laying aloft and loosing the fore royal." "Aye, 
aye, sir," I answered, and proceeded to obey the first order 
that I had received on board the ship " Samson." 

After I had come down from aloft and the royal had been 
set, the second mate came to me and said, " Well, I think 
this is more nateral for you to do, for it is what you was 
brought up to, than it was for you to stand around with 
them Johnny Crapaads trying to learn to speak their jaw- 
breaking lingo. I can say I've been to sea nigh on to thirty 
years, man and boy, and have never been in any port where 
I didn't get along with plain United States English. If my 
language wasn't understood my money would speak for me, 
and I could get all the grub and all the grog that I wanted 
so long as I had the money to pay for it, I tell you, young 
feller, there's nothing that furiners understand quicker than 
money. " 



60 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

In my next watch on deck I took my first trick at the 
wheel, and Mr. Sryson praised me for being a good helms- 
man. 

November first, lat. 28 17 N., long. 40 25 W. The 
weather was now very pleasant and we expected to soon strike 
the northeast trade winds. On this day we had the first 
view of a flying fish seen during the voyage. A flying fish 
is from ten to fifteen inches in length and about three inches 
around the thickest part of the body. It has immense dor- 
sal fins, which it spreads when it emerges from the ocean, 
and sustains itself in the air for a minute or two while it 
skims along just above the surface of the water. When it 
emerges from the water it shoots out with great force at an 
angle of twenty-five degrees and the momentum carries it 
for a distance of two hundred feet or more, when it enters 
the water without making a ripple. The flying fish does not 
fly. It acquires all its propelling force in the water, and 
sustains itself in the air by its dorsal fins, which it out- 
spreads but does not move them at all while out of the 
water. When the power acquired in the water is exhausted 
it has to re-enter its native element. It skims the water 
but does not fly. 

This reminds me of the Cape Cod lad who went on a sea 
voyage of more than two years' duration. When he re- 
turned to his home he recounted many of his adventures to 
his mother: How he had been on a sea where he had seen 
fishes fly in the air, and on a sea that was red in color and 
how one very calm day they had to cast anchor to keep the 
ship from drifting. When the breeze sprung up they hove 
up the anchor and to their surprise they found a chariot 
wheel hanging to one of the flukes of the anchor. The good 
lady replied: " Zenas, my sou, I believe the story about the 
chariot wheel hanging to one of the flukes of the anchor, 
because the Bible tells us how Pharaoh's hosts pursued the 
children of Israel with horses and chariots and were all en- 
gulfed in the Eed Sea. But when you tell me that you have 
seen fishes fljing I can't believe it." 

As flying fish never bite at a baited hook we tried the 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 61 

stratagem of lasliiug a tai(jauliu about twelve feet square to 
the lee main shrouds, after dark, and hanging a lighted lan- 
tern on the inboard side of it. The light attracted the fish 
as they emerged from the water on the windward side and 
shot directly for the light, where they encountered the can- 
vas and dropped down on deck, from whence they were 
picked up by the sailors, who got the cook to fry them the 
next morning, in return for which favor the sailors split 
stove wood for him. 

November 8th. We were now well in the tropics and the 
northeast trades were blowing a good six-knot breeze. Lat. 
23 15 N., long. 31 05 W. We were now steering south- 
sou'west to pass Cape Saint Eoque, as the captain found 
that the leak had somewhat increased and that he would 
have to put into Rio de Janeiro. 

I could see that the discipline on the ship was very lax. 
The captain passed his time mostly in the lower cabin court- 
ing the rosy god, and for many nights at a time would not 
put his head above the cabin companion-way. Even during 
the day he would seldom pay that attention to the sailing of 
the ship that I had observed other captains do with whom I 
had sailed. It is an old saying that, " A careless captain 
makes careless mates." 

As I have said before, Mr. Cranston, the first mate, 
looked more like a lawyer'^ clerk than he did like a seaman. 
When he would have the first watch on deck, which is from 
8 P. M. to 12 midnight, he would pass his time chatting and 
giggling with the lady passengers, to the serious neglect of 
his duties, allowing the man at the wheel to become so care- 
less as to keep the ship yawing about two or three points 
from her course, thereby losing much distance, and when 
the ship was close hauled the careless man at the wheel 
would bring her up till all the sails would be shivering and 
then pay her off four or five points. This makes a great dif- 
ference in the sailing of a ship, and of course it prolongs the 
voyage. He was effeminate and simpering. He exactly 
filled the description given by Shakespeare as one "that 
capers nimbly in the lady's chamber to the lascivious pleas- 



62 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

ing of a lute." He told me that he had been educated at 
Wilbraham Academy, near Springfield, Mass., and it was 
said of him that he was a very expert navigator. A friend 
of his, a passenger on board, said that Cranston could navi- 
gate a ship from the Atlantic through the Gut of Canso into 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence without seeing the land, providing 
he could get an observation of sun or moon. But in sea- 
manship he was wofully deficient and really indifferent. 

On the other hand, the second mate, Mr. Bryson, Avas a 
thorough seaman, could cut a gang of standing rigging as 
skillfully as any master rigger that ever took a measurement, 
but in navigation he was a tyro. He could rig a ship and 
he could sail her, but in navigating her he couldn't handle 
the "hog yoke," as the sailors call the quadrant, with any 
degree of skill. He could barely work out the latitude. 
The mates reminded me of the nursery rhyme: 

" There was Jack Sprat, who ate no fat. 
His wife, she ate no lean, sir; 
Between the two, without ado, 
They licked the platter clean, sir." 

What with the splendid capacity of the first mate as a 
navigator and the thorough knowledge of the working of a 
ship by the second mate, if the captain had been less bibu- 
lous and more energetic, the ship would have been much 
better managed, but as things were going on board in so 
loo.se and careless manner it was evident to any observing 
person that we were destined to make a long, tedious voyage. 
I will here illustrate what a good, attentive captain can do 
on board of a ship under way. 

The ship " Flying Cloud," built in East Boston by Don- 
ald McKay, 1851, sailed from New York in 1851, commanded 
by Capt. Cressy. She made the passage to San Francisco 
in eighty-nine days and twenty hours, a distance of eighteen 
thousand miles, around Cape Horn, besides the devious dis- 
tance sailed when the wind was adverse; and during all this 
voyage it was said that she never parted a ropeyarn. When 
she arrived in San Francisco the mercantile community was 
astonished, as nothing in the sailing line had ever before 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 63 

approached such a feat. It was told by members of the 
ship's crew that from the day that the ship sailed from New 
York until she was anchored in San Francisco, that Capt. 
Cressy had not allowed a single watch of four hours to pass 
without coming on deck at least once during the watch. The 
mate in charge of the watch was especially directed to con 
the helm, to study every variation of the wind and to trim 
the sails accordingly, and from such close application came 
such very brilliant results. 

In this port Capt. Cressy and his ship became the cyno- 
sure of all eyes. A big restaurant which was about to be 
opened was named the "Flying Cloud." A clothing store 
just opened, was called the " Flying Cloud " clothing store; 
and to cap the climax an enthusiastic old sailor, who stood 
on the corner of Sansome and Halleck streets, waiting for 
odd jobs of hauling, caused his hand-cart to be painted a 
bright green, and a legend painted on the tailboard bearing 
these words: " Flying Cloud looking for a job." 

On the second voyage of the "Flying Cloud" she beat 
her record by one hour, making the voyage in eighty-nine 
days and nineteen hours. To Capt. Cressy and his ship 
belongs the honor of the greatest performance in sailing 
that is known in the maritime world. When I contrast the 
achievement of this ship with the lax and slovenly manage- 
ment of the "Samson," which vessel took seventy -five days 
to reach Eio de Janeiro, under very favorable conditions, I 
feel convinced that to make a quick passage, very much de- 
pends upon the close application of the captain to the proper 
sailing of his ship. 

November 15th. We are now having light winds, lat. 18 
12 N., long. 30 22 W., weather warm. We were daily ap- 
proached by schools of porpoises, and they would often 
sport around the ship and come right under her bows. We 
had a sailor that had once been on a whaling vogage in a 
schooner from Provincetown, Cape Cod, and he claimed to 
be a good harpooner. The chief mate caused a harpoon to 
be rigged, and used a coil of rattling stuff for a line; it was 
placed in the waist, on the lee side, and the end passed out- 



64 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

side the forerigging to the bow, and lashed to the harpoon. 
When everything was ready the whaleman, whose name was 
Amaziah Nickersou, took the harpoon, went oat to the mar- 
tingale and lashed himself to it, so as to have the free use 
of his hands, and stand ready for a chance to strike a por- 
poise. The chance soon occurred, for a porpoise came with- 
in range and Amaziah threw the harpoon with such force and 
precision that it passed clear through the body of the mon- 
ster. As soon as the porpoise was struck the mate ordered 
the helm to be put hard down and eased up the head sheets 
and the ship came up into the wind, which stopped her head- 
way. In the meantime the porpoise was struggling fiercely, 
but without avail. The struggle soon ceased, and the por- 
poise was hauled alongside. Amaziah was placed in the 
bight of a rope and lowered over the side; he then placed a 
running bowline over the flukes of the monster and it was 
hoisted on board with a watch tackle. When it was stretched 
on deck all the passengers gathered around, and all of them 
expressed unbounded wonder at the sight of the denizen of 
the mighty deep. Its weight was reckoned to be about three 
hundred and fifty pounds. Sailors often call them sea hogs. 
The monster was immediately opened and its liver taken out. 
It was then 9:30 a. m. The captain ordered the cook to 
prepare the liver for a special luncheon for the ladies and 
have it ready by eleven o'clock. The cook cut the liver into 
slices and washed it in salt and water, after which he wiped 
it dr}^, dredged it with dry flour and fried it with slices of 
bacon. The odor of the frying liver and bacon that issued 
from the galley carried the memory of the young passengers 
from the interior of Pennsylvania back to their father's farm 
in hog killing time, and excited their gustatory organs to 
such a degree that it caused the saliva to exude from their 
mouths and trickle down their chins in tiny rivulets. The 
eight ladies on board enjoyed the novel dish of fried por- 
poise liver and bacon, and declared that it was the most 
delicious morsel that they had eaten in many a day. Then 
the body of the porpoise was stripped of the blubber, which 
was tried out for oil for the forecastle lamps, and the meat 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 65 

was cut into strips, parboiled in salt and water and wiped 
dry. After this it was mixed with a small proportion of salt 
pork and chopped fine. It was then seasoned with dried 
sage and summer savory, pepper and salt, and rolled into 
small balls, covered with dry flour, and then fried in a pan 
of hot fat, and served piping hot. It must be said that to 
us it tasted as palatable as a dish of Fulton market sausage 
meat ever tasted to us when in New York. We all liked it 
so well that when the supply — which lasted two days — was 
exhausted we, like Oliver Twist, asked for more of the same 
kind. The French passengers were so well pleased that one 
of them sent a bottle of brandy, by the cabin boy, to Ama- 
ziah as a reward for his prowess. After this feast every- 
thing moved along in the old groove. 

November 19th, lat. 14 24 N., long. 31 16 W. We ex- 
pected to reach the equator in a few days and the sailors be- 
gan to talk about having a visit from Neptune. After dis- 
cussing the subject they resolved to ask permission from the 
captain to enact the part, and solicited Mr. Bryson, the sec- 
ond mate, to act as their advocate. Mr. Bryson accordingly 
approached the captain upon the subject, and strengthened 
his argument by saying that in nearly all the ships in which 
he had crossed the line the Neptune drama was allowed to be 
enacted, and never had resulted in anything unpleasant. 
The captain said he was willing if the weather should per- 
mit, but there should be no tar used in the lather, nor should 
he allow a rusty iron hoop for a razor — but a wooden razor 
instead. All these preliminaries being arranged, the sailors 
commenced at once to prepare for the grand occasion. Mr. 
Bryson furnished an old topgallant studdingsail from which 
they made three cloaks and trimmed them with strands of 
Manila ropeyarns, and painted them green, to resemble sea 
weed. They also made three pairs of canvas sandals and 
painted them green also. They made three pairs of leggings 
of red flannel, which were to be tied around their ankles. 
A Russian fur cap was fitted with a band of sheet brass, and 
two bands, crossing each other, over the top of the cap, al- 
together resembling a coronet, which was to be worn by 



66 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

Neptune. A sailor named Stanwood, possessing a basso 
profundo voice, was to ensict the part of the sea king. His 
two satellites were to have wigs made of Manila strands. 
Their faces were to be daubed with yellow ochre. 

November the twenty-first proved a propitious day for 
the enactment of the great drama, it being bright and 
pleasant, with a three -knot breeze. The word was passed 
around the ship during the forenoon that Neptune might 
board the ship during the day. One o'clock was the time 
at which the passengers would be in the cabin taking their 
dinner. Mr. Bryson had kindly consented to act as master 
of ceremonies. By observation at 12 meridian we were in 
lat. 8 23 N., long. 31 05 W. The wind was abaft the beam; 
the ship was sliding along about four knots; the second 
mate was in charge of the deck, as the chief mate was in the 
cabin taking his dinner. 

At 1:15 p. M. a stentorian voice called out, " Ship ahoy!" 
"Hello!" answered the second mate through the speaking 
trumpet, which had been purposely placed at hand. 
"What ship is that?" "The 'Samson,' from Phila- 
delphia." "Heave back your maintopsail, as Neptune is 
coming aboard." "Aye, aye, sir." Then the chief mate, 
who had come on deck, ordered the helm to be put hard 
down, the mainsail to be hauled up, and the maintopsail to 
be hove aback. 

The passengers, who had heard the ship hailed, appar- 
ently from a distance, hurried out of the cabin and saw a 
sight that astonished them and caused some of them to 
blanch with fright. There they saw before them Neptune, 
dressed in his royal robes of green cloak and red breeches, 
with crown on his head and scepter or trident in his hand^ 
attended by his two satellites, one on each side; while one 
carried an immense steel-colored (made of wood) razor, the 
other one carried a bucket and a huge brush made of oakum 
lashed to a stick for a handle. The attendants had green 
cloaks like their master and a head covering of what ap- 
peared to be seaweed. They marched with measured step 
as far aft as the mainmast, where they were met by the chief 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



67 



a 

W 
O 
> 

I— I 
Q 

02 

W 
h3 




68 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

mate, who raised his cap to Neptune, the monarch of the 
ocean. Then spoke Neptune, "I know that you have a 
number of novices on board, who must be inducted into the 
mysteries of my dominion. Bring a list of their names, and 
state the occupation of each." "Aye, aye, sir," answered 
the mate. 

The list had, of course, been previously prepared, and it 
was handed to Mr. Bryson, master of ceremonies. Neptune 
ordered him to read the list and call out the names, which 
he did in the following order: 

Deidrich Cluffwater, farmer; 

Hans Van Bokkelin, farmer; 

Dick Grimes, cabin boy; 

Benj. F. Jackson, compositor; 

Edward Brainarcl, student; 

John Edgar, pressman; 

Mons. Dubardie, embassador; 

Mons. Bayard, soldier; 

Mons. Bushey, Perruquier to his majesty Louis Phillip; 

Mons. Guizot, gentleman. 

The above embraced the list of those persons that were 
to be inducted into the family of Neptune, and to be known 
thereafter as the " Sons of Neptune." 

Preparations were now made for the shaving of the nov- 
ices. The half of a large water cask was placed near the 
mainmast and was filled with salt water. Across the cask 
was placed a capstan-bar to serve as a seat for the candi- 
date. A bucket was used in which the lather of soap and 
grease had been already prepared. One of the attendants 
used the mop, while the other one wielded the wooden razor, 
which was painted steel color. Neptune stood majestically 
with cloak and crown, holding his trident in his right baud. 
The master of ceremonies led forward the person whose 
name was first on the list, Deidrich Cluffwater. A more dis- 
consolate looking young fellow I never looked upon before. 
They seated him on the edge of the big half cask, with a 
capstan-bar for a seat. One of Neptune's attendants held 
him to the seat while the other one plied the brush or mop 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 69 

with no gentle hand. Whenever the victim opened his 
mouth to breathe the mop was thrust into it, which caused 
him to splutter and spit. When the lather had been ap- 
plied, the attendant laid the mop down and held the victim 
while the barber wielded the razor with a great deal of vigor 
and some roughness. After the shaving was completed the 
two operators held the victim by the shoulders and soused 
him backwards into the cask of water, and thou raised him 
up half smothered. Then they wiped him off with a canvas 
towel, which was as painful as the shave. 

Now came the time for Neptune to speak. He toJd the 
novice to stand up, which he had to do as the two satellites 
were holding him. His majesty propounded the following 
questions: 

Ques. Do you solemnly swear that you will never eat 
brown bread when you can get white ? Ans. I swear. 

Ques. Do you solemnly swear that you will never kiss 
the maid when you can kiss the mistress? Ans. I swear. 

Ques. Do you solemnly swear that you wil! not drink 
water when you can get wine ? Ans. I swear. 

" Very well," said his Majesty, at the same time laying 
his scepter gently across the shoulders of the candidate; "I 
pronounce you a true Son of Neptune by adoption, and 
hereby invest you with all the privileges appertaining to the 
sons of the King of the Sea." 

Then the master of ceremonies escorted him aft, saying 
at the same time, " Old Neptune has let you into his family 
easier than he did me. When I first crossed the line, years 
ago, he came on board our ship, and put me and three 
other young fellers through the exercises, and done it with- 
out gloves; you bet he did. He had his barbers to make a 
lather of soap, slush out of the galley coppers, and tar, which 
was rubbed all over my face; then they scraped me with a 
razor made of hoop iron. After they got through with me, 
my face was as raw as a piece of beef." 

Cluffwater was glad to be liberated, and soon appeared 
on deck in clean clothes, to see his friend Van Bokkelin put 
through the same process. 



70 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

The ladies being aware that tlie motto on the escutcheon 
of Neptune was: " Ladies admitted free," and feeling the 
security of immunity, enjoyed the novel performance, and 
laughed until the tears coursed down their cheeks. 

The next to be operated upon was Van Bokkelin. He 
was escorted by the master of ceremonies and was subjected 
to the same process as Cluffwater had been. After this came 
Dick Grimes, for whom I felt a sort of pity, because sailors 
charge cabin boys with being tale bearers, carrying tales 
from the forecastle to the captain in the cabin. The master 
of ceremonies told him to come with him, but Dick, instead, 
began to run towards the cabin; then Mr. Bryson called two 
of the sailors aft and ordered them to take the boy by the 
nape of the neck and the slack of his breeches and convey 
him before Neptune, which the sailors at once proceeded to 
do, con amore, while Dick howled and kicked vigorously, 
but without avail, as he was placed on the shaving stool and 
taken charge of by the two satellites. Just then, from an 
unexpected quarter, arose a friend and advocate for Dick. 
This was sweet little Blanche, the four-year old daughter 
of the captain. She stood on the roof of the cabin, and 
with flashing eyes called out: "Go away! you bad mans, 
let poor Dick alone! I'll tell my papa on you, and he'll give 
you a hard whipping." But Neptune's attendants were ob- 
durate, and proceeded to lather and shave Dick in a manner 
that proved that they meant to make the most of their op- 
portunity. "Dick, don't cry," said Blanche; "stop! you 
bad mans." After the barbers had concluded their labors 
they placed the boy before Neptune, who made him take the 
usual oath with the following addenda: " Do you solemnly 
swear that j^ou'll never more carry tales from the forecastle 
to the cabin?" "I swear." "Go, now, you imp of mis- 
chief." 

After the three first had been duly shaved, the chief 
mate came to Mr. Bryson and held a short conference, the 
result of which was that Mr, Bryson informed Neptune that 
the balance of the novices desired to obtain exemption from 
the ordeal undergone by the others, by laying gifts at his 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 71 

feet. His Majesty acquiesced in the plan, thereby showing 
that royalty is never known to refuse a good thing when it 
is offered in a proper spirit. The first one to come forward 
with his offering was Benj. F. Jackson, who brought a bound 
volume of the "Philadelphia Ledger," that had been pre- 
sented to him in that office when he withdrew to go to Cali- 
fornia. The next was John Edgar, the pressman, who pre- 
sented a fine copy of Burns' Poems, presented to him in the 
printing house where he had served his apprenticeship. The 
four Frenchmen brought each a bottle of old cognac brandy 
and placed them at the feet of his Majesty. Edward Brain- 
ard, student, was exempted by reason of his misfortunes. 
After this was completed, which took about one hour, Mr. 
Bryson requested all the passengers to withdraw into the 
cabin. After the deck was cleared, Neptune and his attend- 
ants at once dove down- into the forecastle; the ship was 
filled away on her course and everything looked as natural 
as before Neptune had appeared. I must say that Capt. 
Blanchard had behaved handsomely, for during the whole 
ceremony he never appeared on dock once, thereby giving 
Neptune and his attendants a chance to have full play. 
An hour after this, Stanwood and his two aids, having 
divested themselves of their fantastic rig, came on deck to 
resume their duties, and really, any one that didn't know 
about it would never suspect that Neptune and Stanwood 
were one and the same person. 

During the afternoon I noticed that the two cooks ap- 
peared to be extra busy. The steward told me that Stan- 
wood had given him one of the four bottles of cognac, there- 
fore he was going to reciprocate by giving the sailors a treat 
of mince turnovers for their sapper. Mince turnovers, on 
board of a ship, are made of salt beef, chopped fine and 
mixed with three times the quantity of boiled dried apples, 
a little dried orange peel, allspice, and molasses to taste, 
and a taste of vinegar. Dough cut into small sections after 
it is rolled thin. Put one spoonful of the mince in each 
section, bring the edges together, put each one in a frying 
pan, filled with hot fat, and fry them brown. When one 



72 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

side is fried turn the pie over — henco the name, "fried 
turnovers." In the absence of luxuries on board of a ship 
such simple dishes are a great boon to the sailor. I saw 
one of the sailors receive from the cook a big panful of 
turnovers, which he carried forward for their supper. It 
was our first watch on deck that night and I saw the 
steward and the two cooks hob-nobbing together and dis- 
cussing the episode of Neptune's visit. The head cook, 
who was an American-African, said that the affair of that 
day was one of the pleasantest and beautifulest that he 
ever seed. The steward, who was an Englishman, said 
that it was too tame and insipid altogether. Said he: "It 
takes an English crew on an English ship to give force 
and character to Neptune's visit, where real tar is used, 
and real hoop iron is used for a razor. You may bra^- all 
you like about your Brother Jonathan but it takes John 
Bull to do things in ship-shape and Bristol fashion, in every- 
thing that he undertakes." The steward was a true type of 
the all sufficient supercilious British sailor. 

We were now in the torrid zone with wind 1 ight and very 
hot weather. At noon time the heat was so intense that the 
pitch oozed out of the deck seams. 

On November twenty-second the steward informed the 
mate that the fresh water was reduced down to six casks 
out of fifty which we had on deck when we left Philadelphia. 
The fact was that the passengers had used the fresh water 
in a most prodigal manner as if there was a never-failing 
spring to drawn from. The sailors seeing how freely the 
passengers were helping themselves— and washing their 
clothes — were not slow in following their example; the con- 
sequence being that we found ourselves in the tropics, with 
the air as hot as an oven when the wind was moderate, and 
we had only six full casks of water on deck. It is true, 
there were two iron tanks between decks containing five hun- 
dred gallons each, but this was a reserve supply in case the 
deck should be swept by a sea. The captain was informed 
of the condition of affairs, which caused him to storm and 
roar at the mates because of their neglect, and scolded the 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 73 

steward for his extravagciuce. He ordered the second mate 
to take charge of the water and have each day pumped out 
of the cask sufficient to supply each man with two quarts of 
water per day — one quart to drink, one quart for coffee and 
tea. This severe measure need not have been adopted if 
the captain had exercised that supervision and discipline 
that causes everything to go on smoothly on board of a 
ship. 

T\'ith cabin passengers the mate cannot or does not as- 
sert that superiority that is essential in the maintenance of 
discipline. From the c!ay on which we passed Cape Hen- 
lopen, Mr. Cranston, the first mate, seemed oblivious to 
everything but standing his watch, and navigating the ship, 
aud paying devout attention to the lady passengers, while 
Mr. Bryson, the second mate, would take a sailor to task 
sooner about the waste of a fathom of spunyarn than ho 
would if he saw him take a bucket of fresh water wherewith 
to wash his clothes. " But," you ask, " where was the cap- 
tain all this time ? " He was in the cabin worshiping at the 
shrine of the rosy god Bacchus. This was a plain illustra- 
tion of the old adage, which says: " When the cat is away 
the mice will play." 

The captain now determined to put into Rio de Janeiro, 
as the ship leaked copiously and we were short of fresh 
water, and therefore not in a condition to venture around 
Cape Horn! It was now November 26th. Our position at 
12 meridian was lat. I 15 south, long. 29 30 west; wind E. 
N. E. The ship was brought a point to the southward in 
order that we might weather Cape Saint Roque, in lat. 5 28 
S., long. 35 17 W. Every one on board the ship now began 
to discuss the captain's change of plan of the voyage. Some 
of them deplored the necessity of putting into Rio, fearing 
that the gold in California would be all dug up before we 
would arrive there. Others of the passengers were de- 
lighted with the prospect of seeing a new country and once 
more placing their feet on dry land. The wind was now 
freshening and the ship moved through the water at a race- 
horse speed. 



74 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



November 27tli at 2 p. m. we sighted Cape Saint Koque, 
bearing soutb-soutliwest, distant about twenty miles. The 
sight of land produced a very animating effect upon all the 
passengers. The ladies ranged themselves on the quarter- 
deck and each one in turn took a view of the distant land 
through the spy-glass, while the young men laughed and 
skipped about the deck as if they had become boys again. 
The Frenchmen opened a few extra bottles of claret for 
themselves and became quite loquacious. The interdiction 
on the free use of fresh water for drinking purposes was re- 
moved, and an air of cheerfulness pervaded the whole com- 
pany on the ship. 

Thanksgiving Day was now near, a day hallowed by the 
Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock in 1G20, when — 

The breaking waves dashed high 
On a stern and rock-bound coast, 
^=:^ And the woods against the stormy 
sky 
Their giant branches tossed. 

The heavy night hung dark 
The hills and water o'er, 

When a band of pilgrims moored 
their bark 
On the wild New England shore. 

Thanksgiving Day has ever been a day of special devo- 
tion and of feasting in all New England since that day in 
November when Providence had blessed them with an abun- 
dant harvest, after having suffered drought and hunger for 
two years after their first landing. The fore part of the day 
is devoted to divine worship, after which is inaugurated the 
grand feast of the year. From this beginning has Thanks- 
giving Day been perpetuated, and is held precious by every 
son of New England, wherever his lot may be cast. The 
family on that day, though widely separated, gather under 
the parental roof and pass the day in family communion. 
Nor is the stranger neglected on that day, but is supplied 
with ample quantity of food, not omitting a generous piece 
of New England mince pie. 




A Tale of Two Oceans. 75 

An opulent merchant named Jonathan Bourne, of New 
Bedford, Mass., some years ago sent a liberal sum of money 
to the Selectmen of Sandwich, Mass., with a request that 
they buy an ample supply of turkey and also a sufficient 
quantity of cider to supply one bottle each to every inmate 
of the town farm on Thanksgiving Day. In concluding his 
letter he said: "It is my desire that the poor and wretched 
of my native town shall forget their misery on Thanksgiving 
Day." This noble act of Mr. Bourne will be remembered 
when his wealth and his business enterprise will have been 
forgotten. 

Capt. Blanchard was from Maine and Mr. Cranston was 
from Massachusetts, yet neither one of them mentioned a 
word about the approaching Thanksgiving Day. The 
steward was an Englishman, and the two darkey cooks were 
from Maryland, therefore they wouldn't know Thanksgiving 
Day even if they saw it standing before them. One of the 
sailors named Miles Standish Bradsireet, who hailed from 
Gardiner, Maine, said that he had sailed for many years in 
lumber drogers between Portland and the West Indies, and 
never in all that time had Thanksgiving Day been allowed 
to pass without proper recognition, neither at sea nor in 
port — always being observed with extra fare fore and aft. 

The last Thursday in November arrived, which is usually 
the day appointed by the Governor of each State as a holi- 
day; but on board of our ship there was no sign to denote 
the event. Neither in the galley nor pantry was there any 
signs of unusual activity. At 12 meridian, the mate, who 
had been observing the sun with his sextant, sung out, 
"Twelve o'clock!" The captain, who for a wonder was on 
the quarter-deck, said to the man at the wheel, " Make it 
so." "Aye, aye, sir," and he struck eight bells. The man 
on the lookout forward responded by striking eight bells on 
the ship's bell and ran to the forecastle gangway and called 
out, "Starboard watch ahoy! eight bells." The starboard 
watch came on deck. Two of the sailors went to the galley 
to receive the dinner for all hands forward. The cook gave 
them one kit of beef, one kit of pork, one bake-pan full of 
dandyfunk. Potatoes were long since exhausted. 



76 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

Dandyfunk is a dish composed of navy biscuit soaked in 
water, mashed with a pestle, mixed with fat taken from the 
coppers in which the meat is boiled, sweetened with mo- 
lasses and flavored with allspice, then put into a pan and 
baked in the oven. It isn't a very high-toned dish, but in 
the absence of something better it is very palatable to a 
sailor. 

The crew sat down on the deck, as it was usual for them 
to do in pleasant weather, and ate their dinner. While the 
dinner was being e iten Miles Staudish Bradstreet, who 
claimed to be a lineal descendant of Capt. Miles Standish, 
the Pilgrim warrior, arose from the deck, holding a big beef 
bone in one hand, and holding it up high he delivered the 
following elegy on the ox: 

From Saccarap to Portland pier 
I've dragged lumber for many a year; 
After a long and sore abuse, 
They packed me down for sailors' use; 
Tliey cook me up and pick my bones, 
And throw the rest to Davy Jones. 

And suiting the action to the words, he threw the bone over 
the weather side of the ship. The French passengers were 
curiously watching the performance, and when Doctor Do- 
riot explained it all to them they laughed heartily, and one 
of them sent a bottle of cognac brandy to the sailors while 
another passenger filled a bread tray heaping full of sweet 
biscuits from his private stores and sent it forward. Thus, 
after all, the sailors had a jolly Thanksgiving dinner. 

At 1 o'clock the passengers sat down to their dinner of 
salt beef, salt pork, boiled hominy, pickles, rice pudding 
and cheese. Although it was Thanksgiving Day there was 
nothing said in commemoration of the Pilgrim holiday, as 
most of the passengers were from Pennsylvania or else from 
the South, where Thanksgiving Day was unknown. It re- 
mained for Abraham Lincoln, the Christian President, to 
proclaim Thanksgiving Day a national holiday throughout 
the length and breadth of this glorious laud, that acknowl- 
edges a divine supervision over all nations. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 77 

Having weathered Cape Saint Koque, our course was 
changed to more westerly, and as the wind was about E. S. 
E., we were going free with topmast-studdiugsails set. On 
this day a number of dolphins were seen swimming near our 
quarter. Capt. Blanchard told Mr. Bryson to bring the 
grains, also a sea-leadline for a lanyard. Mr. Bryson fitted 
the grains to the staff, lashed the lanyard to it, and then 
took it aft to the captain. The captain grasped the grains 
and stood near the taffrail watching for a chance. The fish 
would approach until they were almost under the ship's 
counter, and then suddenly dart off to a distance. After a 
time the captain saw his opportunity; he threw the grains 
and lo, it struck a dolphin. There was great excitement on 
the quarter-deck among the passengers. The fish darted in 
every direction and turned up its sides, showing the most 
beautiful colors imaginable. After its struggles had some- 
what subsided it was hauled on deck by the willing aid of 
the passengers. It measured all of five feet in length. The 
ladies congratulated the captain for the accuracy of his 
throw and he seemed as proud as a peacock because of his 
achievement. The dolphin laid on deck twisting and turn- 
ing, while his skin showed every color of the rainbow. 

The captain ordered the cook to clean it and fry it. He 
handed him a silver half-dollar piece and told him to let it 
remain in the frying-pan while the fish was cooking, and 
when the fish was cooked to fetch the half dollar to him so 
that he might note its color. After the fish was fried the 
cook returned the half dollar to the captain, and it had be- 
come as black as a piece of coal. The captain became con- 
vinced that the fish was poisonous, and ordered it to be 
thrown overboard at once. Thus the ladies lost their antici- 
pated feast of fried dolphin. 

The reason of the fish being in a poisonous condition 
was because the bottom of the ocean over which we were 
then sailing was heavily impregnated with copper ore, and 
the ocean weeds on which the fishes feed contained the ver- 
digris that exudes from the copper ore, hence whoever eats 
such fish becomes poisoned. 



78 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

The weather now showed signs of an approaching change. 
Scuds were flying to the eastward and at the sotting of the 
sun it was partially obscured by heavy clouds that appeared 
to be charged with rain. The wind was still from E. S. E., 
while our course was 8. W. by S. Toward midnight the 
wind died away and the ship lay moving with the gentle un- 
dulations of the ocean, while her sails flapped helplessly 
against the masts. At 6 a. m. it began to rain in gentle 
drops while the sky was invisible on account of the lieavy 
clouds. We took the two lower studdingsails and spread 
one over the upper cabin deck and the other over the long- 
boat on top of the forward house, in order that we might 
catch all the fresh water possible wherewith to wash our 
persons and also our clothes. The rain now came down in 
torrents and the wind began to increase, but as it was still 
comparatively moderate we did not shorten sail. We filled 
two water casks with rain water and were still busy when 
the alarm was given with startling emphasis: "A water- 
spout! A water-spout!" We stopped dipping the fresh 
water at once and looked in the direction indicated bv the 
alarmist, and to our consternation we saw an enormous 
water-spout off our starboard quarter, about six hundred 
feet off, and moving with a rotary motion towards the ship. 

The captain, who stood on the quarter-deck, ordered the 
mate to fetch up the swivel cannon from its locker in the 
lower cabin. The mate called two men and they went down 
below and quickly returned with the cannon, which was 
always kept loaded for emergencies. It was taken forward 
and shipped into the socket on the top of the samson post. 
The touch-hole was protected by a heavy apron of painted 
canvas. The mate went to the cabin and soon ran out with 
a lighted fuse, which he shielded under his oilcloth coat. 
He stood ready for the word of command. The water-spout 
was moving with the wind towards the ship with a threaten- 
ing swirl. It was now within two hundred feet of the shi)), 
and it looked awe inspiring. It looked like an immense bal- 
loon when it is inflated and about to be loosened from its 
moorings. Every man on board the ship was on deck, re- 



A Tale of Two Oceans, 



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gardless of the pouring rain, and each seemed to be holding 
his breath with fright. This brought to my mind the words 
of holy writ: "Deep calleth unto deep at the voice of thy 
water-spouts." — Psalms, 42, 7th verse. The suspense was 
horrible. All at once the captain thundered out: "Fire!" 
Whiz, bang, went the charge and sent the one pound iron 
ball into the water-spout, which collapsed into a seething, 
swirling, foaming mass of lumpy ocean. It appeared to 
have contained a sufficient quantity of water to have sub- 
merged the ship twenty feet deep. We were saved. I felt 
at that moment that I could forgive Capt. Blanchard for all 
his previous shortcomings, for had the water-spout struck 
the ship in its entirety it would have sunk her there and 
then. 

After the collapse of the water-spout a discussion arose 
between Doctor Doriot, who was educated in Girard Col- 
lege, and Mr. Shorb, the Virginia lawyer, who had been 
educated at Yale, where most of the young Southerners were 
graduated at that time. Doctor Doriot remarked that the 
aim of Mr. Cranston had been very accurate, for the ball 
had penetrated the water-spout, and thereby destroyed the 
suction, and hence the collapse. Mr. Shorb said that such 
was not the case. He said that the explosion of the powder 
had caused a concussion in the air and consequently had 
destroyed the entity of the water-spout and caused its total 
collapse. The two collegians continued their wrangling in 
the cabin to the annoyance of the other passengers, who 
were satisfied with the result without caring about hair- 
splitting theories. 

Towards noon the weather began to clear up and the 
wind changed to the northwest, giving us a fair wind. By 
the noon observation our latitude was 9 85 south, longitude 
37 40 west, making the distance from Eio de Janeiro 950 
miles; course, S. S. W. 

It was now the fourth day of December and we began to 
look forward with pleasure to an early arrival in Rio de 
Janeiro. We sighted a vessel occasionally, steering south 
like ourselves, which made it seem very companionable from 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 81 

the fact that when at sea there is nothing in sight but sky and 
water and the only living thing to be seen is the poor little 
"mother Carey's chickens," which little creatures become 
endeared to the sailor by their constant companionship on 
the wide, lonely ocean. Mother Carey's chickens are little 
ocean birds that very much resemble the little swallows that 
are so common around the barn on shore. They follow a 
ship constantly, in sunshine and in storm, and dart around 
her like little guardian angels to look out for the welfare of 
poor Jack. The mate now ordered the masts to be scraped, 
the rigging tarred down, the bulwarks to be painted, and 
everything on board to be made sightly and presentable. 
Mr. Bryson was now as busy as a hen with twenty chickens. 
He kept the men hard at it from 8 o'clock in the morning 
until noon, and from 1 P. m. until 5 p. m. As to me, they 
never called upon me to do more than what I agreed to do. 
That was to "work ship," take my regular trick at the wheel 
and my turn at the lookout. 

Capt. Blanchard again sent for young Brainard, who, in 
obedience to the summons, went into the lower cabin, where 
the captain detained him for nearly an hour. When he re- 
turned on deck I saw that he looked flushed and troubled. 
The first opportunity he had he told me that the captain had 
demanded of him that he turn over to him his father's papers, 
including the bills of lading, as he, being but a boy, was not 
a fit custodian for them. He declined to yield to the cap- 
tain's demand; he then told him that he was but an inter- 
loper on board of his ship, and for that reason he would put 
him ashore the very moment that the anchor was dropped in 
Erio de Janeiro. This threat produced a very depressing 
effect on the poor youth and caused the tears to run down 
his cheeks. I pitied the poor fellow and tried to console 
him with cheering words. I then thought of the poetic 
couplet: 

" Man's inhumanity to man, 
Makes countless tliousantls mourn." 

The weather was now very warm, and the wind a whole 
sail breeze from east to east nor' east, and our course was 



82 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

south southwest. December tenth, by observation at noon, 
was lat. 11 17 S., long. 41 03 W. All hands and the passen- 
gers availed themselves of the chance to use the rain water, 
which we had saved during the rainstorm, and the decks 
presented the appearance of a floating laundry. We washed 
our sea-going clothes and scrubbed our persons to get off a 
coating of salt about a quarter of an inch thick, as we had 
been deprived of our fresh water privileges for a long time. 
The passengers now began to practice the tonsorial art upon 
one another — cutting the hair, trimming the whiskers of 
more than sixty days' growth, shaving and shampooiog. Our 
fare at the table began to improve, as the steward and the 
cooks knew that they would have a respite from their labors 
for a time after we arrived in Rio. We had for dinner, daily, 
besides beef and pork, baked beans, boiled hominy, 
tapioca pudding enriched with eggs, and cornstarch pud- 
ding with cheese. For supper, dried beef sliced, hot bis- 
cuits, dried apple sauce, and fine doughnuts. 

December eighteenth the cry of "land bo!" from a man 
aloft. "Where away?" sung out the mate. "Three points 
on the lee-bow, sir!" "Very well," said the mate. The 
captain was called, who at once came on deck. He and the 
mate held a conference, and they decided that the land in 
sight was Cape Frio, lat. 23 01 S., long. 41 59 W. The cap- 
tain ordered the man at the wheel to keep her off' two points. 
" Aye, aye, sir! " responded the man, at the same time sway- 
ing the helm to port. The weather braces were ordered to 
be checked in and the ship felt the impulse of the favoring 
breeze and accelerated her speed considerably. After dark 
we sighted Cape Frio light. The captain ordered the mates 
to place two men on the look-out, as we were in the track of 
vessels that were bound into Rio. The passengers stood 
around on deck until eight bells, discussing the probable 
length of our detention in Rio. One gentleman from Penn- 
sylvania who was on board with his wife, declared that if he 
ever got a chance to put his feet on dry land once more that 
he would not go to sea again with such a captain, even if he 
and his wife had to work their passage back to their home. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 83 

But the gentleman had no occasion to do so for the reason 
that he had ample means, and afterwards he left the ship in 
Rio and took passage for himself and wife in the ship 
"Ducalion," that touched at Rio on her way to San Fran- 
cisco. 

On the nineteenth we had a spanking breeze and old "Sam- 
son " was putting in her best licks. The captain had now 
laid aside all foolishness and staid on deck all day, watched 
the weather, conned the helm, and observed all that was 
going on. I then thought that if he had acted thus from 
the time that we took our departure from Cape Henlopen 
we would now have been well on towards Cape Horn by this 
time. We were overtaken by a number of vessels that were 
steering the same course. We were spoken by one vessel 
showing the Danish flag — red ground and white cross — but 
as there was no Dane on board our ship we couldn't under- 
stand them. 

On the twentieth of December we entered the harbor of 
Rio de Janeiro. We went in by the Sugar Loaf — a conical 
rock that rises sharply out of the water and reaches up many 
hundred feet, and, as its name designates, in shape of a 
sugar loaf. Next we passed the fortresses Santa Cruz and 
San Juan, and sailed up towards the anchorage, and the 
chains having been shackled to the anchors and the lashings 
cast off, the order was given to take in sail. Down came 
the royals; down came the topgallantsails; up went the 
courses, down came the jib; down came the three topsails; 
down came the foretopmast staysail. The spanker brought 
the ship up to the wind and she lost her headway. "Stand 
by your larboard anchor! " "Aye, aye, sir!" answered the 
mate. As the ship reached up to the wind and began to 
gather sternway, the order was given: "Let go your 
anchor!" "Let go it is!" and way went the anchor, and 
whirr went the chain until the anchor struck bottom. Then 
the ship trended to the wind: then we were safe in Rio de 
Janeiro, after a tedious voyage of seventy-six days. 

As I looked around the harbor with its numerous ship- 
ping, and cast my eyes towards the beautiful city before us, 



84 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

and as I looked around upon our leaky ship, short of pro- 
visions, short of water, an indifferent, bibulous captain, and 
then I felt a longing and desire to reach California bj some 
other vessel, the beautiful verse of a hymn arose to my 

mind: 

" Tlius far tlie Lord halli led me on, 

Thus far he hath prolonged my days, 
And every evening doth make known, 
Some fresh memorial of His grace." 

Here we were anchored in Rio de Janeiro, lat. 23 37 23 
S., long. 43 08 34 W., after a passage of seventy-six days 
from Philadelphia. The captain ordered his gig, which had 
been turned over on the upper cabin deck, and protected by 
a painted canvas jacket, to be put in the water alongside. 
This job was quickly done. The boat leaked a little, but the 
captain took along two men to row him ashore, and the boy 
Dick to bail out the water. As the captain was going over 
the side he ordered the mate to get the longboat off the for- 
ward house and get her into the water. It was then five 
o'clock. We furled the sails, and then rigged the tackles to 
hoist the longboat, as she was large and heavy. When 
everything was read}', the mate sang out, "Hoist away!" 
As the tackles were drawn taut, the men called to Stan- 
wood: " Give a shanter, old boy ! " And he sang the fol- 
lowing hoisting song, which was chorused by the men: 

" The ladies like Madeira wine, 
The gents they like their brandy oh! 
So early in the morning — 
The sailor likes his bottle oh! 
His bottle oh! his bottle oh! 
The sailor likes his bottle oh! 

CHOKUS. 

So early in the morning — 
The sailor likes his bottle oh!" 

The longboat was lowered into the water, and, with a 
double painter, was secured astern of the ship. The captain 
returned on board at eight o'clock and brought off a quantity 
of fresh beef and sweet potatoes. The captain, immediately 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 85 

after he came on board, descended to the lower cabin, and 
was not seen again that night. Dick, the boy, said that the 
captain went to a big hotel and engaged accommodations for 
himself and family for the time that he would remain in 
port. We all retired early, and it was pleasant to turn into 
the berth and repose freed from the constant unceasing mo- 
tion of the ship and the creaking of her timbers. The next 
morning everyone was up early. The second mate and the 
sailors had already commenced to wash down the decks and 
pumping out the ship, that leaked as much while lying at 
anchor as she had done when she was at sea. After the 
decks were washed, Mr. Bryson took his station on the top- 
gallant forecastle and scanned the yards while they were 
squared by the lifts and braces. As to myself I was now 
relieved from any further duty. As soon as the anchor had 
struck bottom and the sails had been furled I became my 
own master again. 

At eight o'clock we had breakfast of fried beef, boiled 
sweet potatoes, and hot biscuits. The mate told us that such 
of the passengers as wanted to go ashore should be ready bv 
nine o'clock, at which time he would have one of the quarter 
boats ready to take us there. After breakfast I went to my 
chest and took out my warm weather go-ashore suit, which 
I had bought in Havana, Cuba, two years before. It con- 
sisted of white linen jacket, vest and trowsers, a pair of 
morocco shoes, and a Panama straw hat. White shirts I 
had a good supply of. I had in my mind the injunction of 
Polonius to his son Laertes, when he was about to go abroad 
among strangers: 

" Costly thy liabit as thy purse can buy, 
But not expressed in fancy; 
Rich, not gaudy; 
For the apparel oft proclaims the man." 

After I had donned my go-ashore toggery I went out on 
deck and there I found Mr. Bryson, good natured as usual, 
and smoking his after-breakfast cigar. When he saw me, 
he exclaimed : " Why, I declare, you look like a supercargo 
that is just going ashore to sell the ship's cargo to the mer- 



86 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

chants of tlie port. Well, young feller, * go it while you're 
young, for when you're old you can't.'" The quarter boat 
had been lowered and as many of us as could find room got 
into her and were rowed ashore by two of the sailors. TVe 
arrived at a small stone jetty where the small boats lauded 
their passengers. The lower harbor is spacious, being about 
ten miles from shore to shore, and its length is sixteen miles 
from the entrance to the head of the harbor, making it one 
of the safest land-locked havens in the world. When a ship 
calls in Rio for orders or for obtaining fresh provisions she 
anchors in the lower harbor, as in cove of Cork, Ireland, 
but when she is to load or unload then she is taken to the 
upper harbor, about a mile above, where it is more laud- 
locked and where all the wharves are built. When we 
jumped on shore, my companions instinctively grasped one 
another by the hand, and offered congratulations for our safe 
delivery from the dangers of the mighty deep, and thanks 
to an overruling Providence for permitting us to again place 
our feet on " terra firma." 

As we stepped ashore we ^vere surrounded by a horde of 
swarthy Portuguese and coal-black negroes, speaking a jar- 
gon of unintelligible conglomeration of half a dozen lan- 
guages. This mixture of tongues was easily accounted for 
when I saw the flags of most every maritime nation floating 
from the different ships in the harbor, who, like ourselves, 
had touched there either for provisions or from stress of 
weather, to repair damages. After we had passed through 
the crowd that had intercepted us at the beach, we saw a 
large building of two high stories, with a wide balcony sur- 
rounding the second-story, which was shaded by an awning 
of striped canvas, which made it look very gay and attractive. 
Surmounting the parapet was an immense sign bearing the 
legend ''Hotel do Pharoux,'' in letters large enough to be seen 
from a mile distant in the harbor. As we approached the 
place we saw a great number of persons going in and com- 
ing out of the spacious barroom. As we approached we 
were accosted by a great number of California bound gold 
seekers, who asked what ship we had come on and how long 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 87 

we had been on the way. We found that we had been longer 
on our passage than any other vessel then in the harbor. 

Our company now paired off. Mr. Cluffwater and myself 
went together. We found Eio to be a city that was built 
mostly on a level plain, which comprised the business por- 
tion. On the right from where we landed was a rise of 
gently ascending hills on which are built many monasteries 
and convents, in which the city abounds, as well as quiet 
residences; but the business was done iu the level part of 
the city. After we passed the hotel we arrived in front of a 
building of two high stories and of very great length, with a 
courtyard in front in which was a large marble fountain that 
was throwing a jet of water that sparkled in the sun like a 
shower of diamonds. 

This, we learned, was the palace of the Emperor. It 
was built of stone, like all the other buildings that we saw. 
It was very comfortable in outward appearance, but there 
was no architectural display. It might be called neat but 
not gaudy. At the archway of the entrance I saw a solitary 
sentinel pacing back and forth. No other display of mili- 
tary pomp did I see at that time. Adjoining the palace was 
the Emperor's chapel, which, although called a chapel, was 
in reality a large church. It had no exterior elegance, but 
when I visited it some days afterwards I found that the in- 
terior, architecturally and ornamentally, was very grand and 
magnificent. It has a vaulted roof, with a succession of 
arches resting on pillars fluted and gilded, giving the interior 
an appearance of unparalleled grandeur. The main altar was 
indescribably rich with images and carvings. Between the 
pillars were side altars dedicated to saints; portieres of gold 
cloth leading into the sacristy. The organ loft was imme- 
diately over the entrance. Outside the railing of the sanc- 
tuary, extending a few feet, were two elevated grand chairs 
for the Emperor and the Empress, with a few less conspic- 
uous seats for his suite. The floor of the church was devoid 
of pews, and the grand ladies, when they attended mass, 
were attended by female slaves with tiny mats for their mis- 
tresses to kneel upon. AH the women, when attending mass, 



88 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

wore a head covering called a mantilla, for Saint Paul says 
that a woman in church should have her head covered. The 
mantilla worn in the church enables the men, who have to 
stand in the rear of the women, to obtain a view of the altar 
and see all the service. In this country the women who go 
to church wear a head gear of such enormous proportions 
that persons sitting in the back pews cannot obtain a view 
of the altar unless they stand on stilts. The singing was by 
male voices, as females were not allowed to sing in the 
churches of Brazil, nor in Portugal, nor in Spain, for that 
matter. 

We traversed the city and found many strange things. 
The aqueduct that conveys the water to the city from the 
springs on the hillsides some fourteen miles from the city, 
is a massive structure of solid masonry. It looks as though 
it was built to endure for all time. It is built of stone on a 
double tier of arches, and the trough is covered with brick- 
work, which prevents evaporation and also keeps the water 
comparatively cool. There are several receiving cisterns 
throughout the city, whence it is distributed by Negro water- 
carriers, called aquedores, who carry the water in wooden 
vessels that resemble a butter churn, with bright iron hoops, 
and hold about five gallons. Thus you will encounter the 
water-carriers with vessels on their heads, trotting along in 
all parts of the city. The aqueduct strongly reminded the 
beholder of the remnants of Roman masonry yet to be found 
in many parts of Portugal and Spain. 

The market is an immense quadrangular building of 
stone, one very high story in height, containing one wide 
arched entrance on each of its four sides. It is about 
twenty feet in depth all around, roofed and divided into 
shops, which are occupied by small merchants. Inside is 
an open court, large and entirely paved with granite. In 
the center of the court is a large fountain which discharges 
a stream of water that rises some feet into the air and then 
falls back into the large marble basin, where it evaporates 
and thereby cools the heated atmosphere. In this square 
are stone tables resting on granite columns, whereon were 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



89 



displayed the innumerable products of that productive 
country. Beef, mutton, pork, poultry, iish dripping fresh 
from the ocean, vegetables of every kind to be found in 
semi-tropical climates, fruits which to enumerate would re- 
quire a volume of itself; parrots, parroquetes, singing birds 
that piped the most delicious liquid notes, and last, but not 
least, were the slaves, male and female, offered for sale iu 
the open market. Here were offered strong men, robust 
women and children, for sale the same as donkeys and goats. 
Some of those offered for sale were not more than four 
months from their native land — Africa. There they were 
offered on the altar of mammon — all for glittering gold. 

Across the harbor from Rio is Preia Grande, where a 
slave depot is maintained. There the slave schooners, 

which are built 
in Baltimore for 
that very pur- 
pose, discharge 
their cargoes of 
slaves under the 
cover of darkness 
and dispose of 
them to the cof- 
fee planters at 
high prices. The 
enterprise was 
dangerous be- 
cause of the activity of the English cruisers which were 
sent for the purpose of suppressing the nefarious tratfic. 

" From Greenland's icy mountains, 

From India's coral strand; 
Where Afric's sunny fountains 

Roll down their golden sand; 
From many an ancient river, 

From many a palmy plain, 
They call us to deliver 

Their land from error's chain." 

England had declared slave-hunting to be piracy, and 
the penalty was a short shrift and a long rope. While upon 




90 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

this subject I am reminded of a tragic occurrence wbicli 
took place off the coast of Africa in 1845. While England 
had a fleet of fast sailing cruisers on the African station to 
break up the slave trade, she invited the United States to 
co-operate with her to entirely eradicate the inhuman traffic. 
The executive department of the United States Government 
was at that time in the hands of Southern slave-holders and 
their sympathizers, but as we claimed to be a Christian na- 
tion, the invitation could not be wholly ignored. Therefore 
a man-of-war brig, the "Somers," Commander McKenzie, 
was ordered to the African station to co-operate with the 
English cruisers in suppressing the slave-buying traffic. 
While she was sailing along the coast, exploring for the 
rendezvous and the barracoons of the slave sellers and slave 
buyers, a passed midshipman on board the brig, who had 
been reading bad buccaneering books, conceived the idea 
of conspiring Avith some of the crew whom he thought he 
could influence and executing a well-formed plot, seize the 
vessel, capture tbe commander and the officers and make 
them walk the plank overboard in the regular pirate fashion. 
After dispatching the officers his plan was to offer all those 
who joined him a share in the robberies which he contem- 
plated; but if any man refused, then overboard with him to 
join the captain and his officers. After he obtained the full 
possession of the brig he intended to cruise around the 
Canary and the Cape de Verde Islands and cut off the East 
Indiamen that came around Cape Good Hope, send the 
crews to Davy Jones' locker, and after appropriating all that 
the vessels contained of value, set them on fire and let them 
sink. 

He approached one of the petty officers and divulged to 
him his secret, and in that way they enlisted quite a number 
of the men in their horrible enterprise. But "God moves 
in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." One of the 
men who had been enlisted in the murderous conspiracy be- 
came conscience stricken. He went to the executive officer, 
confessed, and divulged the whole plot. In a spirit of con- 
trition he gave a full account of the details and the time for 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 91 

their execution. The executive officer at once apprised the 
commander of their danger. Commander McKenzie at once 
ordered the culprit to be put in irons, and all his confeder- 
ates into confinement. On the following day a court martial 
was convened, composed of his brother officers. He was 
put on trial and found guilty of attempt to commit piracy; 
penalty, death. Capt. McKenzie being the senior captain 
on the station, as there was no other man-of-war there, he 
approved the finding and ordered that the sentence be at 
once carried into efi'ect. As the situation was fraught with 
great danger, the safety of the vessel and security of the 
crew demanded prompt action. Therefore on the day fol- 
lowing the past midshipman was hung to the yardarm, a 
fearful example of perverted talent and a depraved heart. 
In the meantime every loyal man on board was kept under 
arms until the tragedy was ended, to prevent the malcon- 
tents from breaking out into open revolt. The fate of their 
leader was held up to his confederates as an example of what 
they might expect if they manifested any signs of insubor- 
dination. 

"When the "Somers" arrived in Hampton Eoads and 
Commander McKenzie had reported to the Secretary of the 
Navy, there was a tremendous excitement throughout the 
country, the people taking sides for or against the action of 
Commander McKenzie. The young officer had been a mem- 
ber of an influential family, and for that reason there was 
such a pressure brought to bear upon the President that he 
caused the Secretary of the Navy to order a court martial 
for the trial of Commander McKenzie, which attracted much 
attention. After a thorough investigation the court decided 
that the safety of the vessel and the crew required both 
firmness and promptness on the part of Commander McKen- 
zie, therefore his action was justified and approved. 

From the very nature of the conditions that surround 
the captain of a ship at sea his authority on board of ship 
must be supreme. Such being the case, it is of the utmost 
importance that the captain should be a sober, intelligent, 
and cool-headed man, for on these qualities depend the 



92 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

safety of the ship and the lives of every one on board of 
her. 

As Brazil is much nearer to Africa than what Cuba is the 
slavers can reach this market much easier and dispose of 
their human chattels at less risk than they can by running 
the gauntlet of making their way to Cuba, where they realize 
much higher prices for their slaves. All the local transpor- 
tatiou is done by the slaves. This is the most extensive cof- 
fee market in the world and the transportation from ware- 
house to ship is done by slaves. They will form a line of 
about twenty men, each with a sack of coffee that weighs 120 
pounds, on the top of his head, and they will march along 
in single file for a distance of from a half mile to a mile — 
from warehouse to ship, without stopping. While on their 
way they maintain a uniform gait by singing a monotone like 
' ' You, you, you ! Yah, yah ! " So they go through the streets 
with bare shining bodies with short cotton breeches on 
them. They seem to be unconcerned, and seem to be happy 
in their way, thereby verifying the adage of Shakspeare — 

" Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise." 

Most of the houses in Rio are built of unhewn stone and 
covered on the outside with cement, and colored in light 
shades. As a general rule the houses are built two stories 
high, with very high ceilings, on account of the warm 
weather. The roofs are of red tile, as they are in Portugal; 
in fact, if a man were to drop down in a balloon into one of 
the narrow streets in Rio de Janeiro — and the streets are all 
narrow — he might imagine that he was in Lisbon; with this 
difference, however, Rio is much cleaner than Lisbon. Per- 
haps this cleanliness is not so much from choice as it is from 
necessity, as Rio, being in the tropics, is subject to dreadful 
fevers during the summer months — from February to May. 
My companion and myself found ourselves in front of a 
hotel on which was a sign " Hotel do Lisboa." It was now 
about three o'clock and we felt ravenously hungry, therefore 
we entered and sat down at one of the many small tables 
that were ranged around the side of the room. At the up- 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 93 

per end of the room was a small bar; the ceiling was very 
high, the windows were shaded, and the large room was 
quite cool. The man behind the bar tinkled a tiny bell and 
a young fellow came out of a rear room and approached us. 
I told him that we desired to have something to eat, and, if 
convenient, would like a chicken and vegetables. He ans- 
wered that it would be ready in half an hour. I afterwards 
learned how they prepare chicken for the table in Rio. Each 
hotel has a large coop in the yard back of the kitchen, in 
which are placed the chickens as they are brought from the 
country. When the order is received for fried chicken the 
fowl is taken from the coop, decapitated, and immersed in 
hot water and the feathers removed. It is then disjointed, 
wiped, and, presto! it is in the pan frying. In twenty min- 
utes after the order is received the fighting cock that was 
lustily crowing defiance to all comers, is placed sizzling on 
a plate before the guest. That's how it is done in Rio. The 
reason for this is that in tropical climates where the heat is 
incessant, whatever creature is killed for human food has to 
be cooked within a very few hours thereafter or else decom- 
position sets in, and it at once putrifies. We often hear the 
saying "salt won't save it," and this is true in tropical cli- 
mate. The beef that is slaughtered during the night must 
be eaten the next day. 

Our first dinner in Rio consisted of fried chicken, green 
peas, fried potatoes, salad of lettuce, very superior bread, 
and a bottle of Madeira wine. After which we had coffee 
with sweet biscuits. W^e paid two dollars and fifty cents — 
making it one dollar and twenty-five cents for each one. The 
money of Brazil is reckoned by milreis, but we had no diffi- 
culty in passing our American coin, without being obliged 
to go to a money changer. The day having been enjoyed in 
sight seeing, we all met at the jetty at 6 P. M., and were at 
once surrounded by the boatmen, who offered to take us on 
board the ship. I ashed how much they would charge, and 
they answered 1,000 reis. My companions protested at such 
an excessive price; but when it was explained that it was 
equal to on 8 dollar of American money they became quite 



94 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

satisfied, and one of them remarked that 1,000 reis was a 
very small sum with a mighty big name. When we arrived 
on board we were informed that Capt. Blanchard had taken 
his family to the hotel Pharoux, where he had engaged 
quarters, but before he left the ship he had ordered young 
Brainard to prepare himself and leave the ship for good, as 
he looked upon him as an intruder. The poor young fellow 
had packed up such clothes as he had retained from his 
father's outfit, and had been sent ashore in the quarter boat, 
while the captain, with his wife and child, had gone ashore 
in his gig. We were all shocked at hearing what had taken 
place, for the poor youth had made himself liked by all the 
passengers. How much money he had we of course knew 
not, but supposed that he had taken but little from his 
father's stock, because we expected to go around Cape Horn 
without calling at any port, and therefore would not have 
any use for money. Besides the captain and his family, we 
learned that the French gentlemen and their wives had gone 
ashore to lodge with their country people while the ship 
should be in port. 

The next morning, when we went ashore, we there found 
young Brainard waiting for us. He then told us that on the 
day previous the captain made a second demand for all his 
father's papers, and upon his refusal to yield them up, had 
given a peremptory order to the mate to "put that boy 
ashore." Capt. Blanchard had tried to practice that which 
the Barons of old knew so well how to do: 

•' The good old way, tlie simple plan, 
Let liim take who has the power, 
And let him keep who can." 

I consoled him all I could, and volunteered to go to the 
American Consul with him, who, no doubt, would right all 
his wrongs. We called upon the Consul, who proved to be 
a corpulent, inactive man, entirely disinclined to listen to 
the story of the young fellow, but referred him to his clerk, 
who proved to be a most repulsive and a most insolent 
Englishman from the Island of Jamaica. A more forbid- 
ding representative of the power and dignity of the Ameri- 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 95 

can nation I never saw than that fellow who sat in his ojQBce 
in Rio de Janeiro, under the protection of the American 
flag. I at that time wondered how the Secretary of State 
could conscientiously recommend to the President men for 
consuls and even embassadors to protect and advise Ameri- 
can citizens when abroad, men that are entirely unfitted by 
talent or experience. Is it proper that a man who owds a 
sawmill in Maine and has influence to aid Mr. Morrill from 
Sagadehoc county or Lincoln county to be elected to Con- 
gress, that he should be rewarded by a consular appoint- 
ment? Not at all. First of all he should be an American 
in heart and in sentiment. Next he should be a shipping 
merchant or a captain that is familiar with consular duties. 
If this is done we will have good consuls. To send a lum- 
bermill politician as consul to an important port like Rio de 
Janeiro is like setting up a lumber mill on the desert of Sa- 
hara. They are both out of place, and therefore of no use. 
Here was a port where at that very time there were more 
than thirty American vessels, and still the consular business 
of them all was attended to by a foreigner. In the darkest 
days of our republic the great Washington said to his gen- 
erals at Valley Forge: "To-night put none but Americans 
on guard." A grand admonition. And to-day the people 
of these United States should say to the President: Hence- 
forth put none but Americans, in heart and in sentiment, in 
posts of honor in foreign ports to represent our country. 
As the Consul's clerk gave neither comfort nor information 
to the young fellow we were obliged to withdraw without 
having accomplished anything. On this day we strolled 
around the city and took observations, as we say at sea. I 
observed that all the streets had a depression from the side- 
walk to the center of the street, which formed the gutter, 
down which the water ran and conveyed the dirt down to the 
beach. As the water was continually running, the streets 
were more cleanly than one would expect. 

As I have said, the streets are narrow and the houses 
two stories high, while the second story has a balcony run- 
ning the whole length of its frontage, the roof of the house 



96 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

extending over the balcony, thereby protecting it from the 
scorching rays of the tropical sun. Here many of the ladies 
would sit at their sewing or crochet work and at the same 
time converse with their opposite neighbors with as much 
ease as if they were in the same room, as the quiet of the 
street was scarcely ever disturbed by a passing vehicle, the 
porterage being all done by Negro slaves. I noticed that 
the retail merchants pursued their business on the first floor 
of the house while their families lived on the second floor, 
which I considered a most convenient style. 

When we returned to the ship at night we sat down to a 
supper of mutton chops, fried plantains, boiled sweet pota- 
'ioes and hot biscuits. We also learned that the captain had 
given orders to the steward not to use any salt beef or pork 
while in port, as that was to be reserved for use at sea; for 
all salted beef and pork taken on board at Rio had to be 
brought from the United States or from England, because 
it is impossible to cure meat in tropical climates. Meat 
spoils before it takes the salt. 

The following morning being the twenty-third day of De- 
cember, several of us discussed the propriety of observing 
Christmas Day in a manner befitting its importance. Seven 
of us agreed to enjoy a grand Christmas dinner on shore. A 
young lawyer named Shorb, from Richmond, Virginia, and 
myself were chosen to engage the dinner. When we arrived 
at the jetty Shorb and myself sallied out together to find a 
suitable place where to have our feast. We went to several 
hotels and told our errand, but we could not settle on a 
place until we came to the Hotel do Lisboa, where Clufi- 
water and myself had eaten our first dinner in port. We 
disclosed our mission to the landlord and he told us that he 
would serve a dinner for seven persons that should be con- 
formable to the celebration of the nativity of our Lord for 
the sum of fourteen dollars, and the wine, of which he had 
a large stock in his cellar, should be so much per bottle, ac- 
cording to kind. I suggested Madeira. He said that wine 
would be one dollar and fifty cents per bottle. He led us 
up stairs and showed us a small room about eight by ten 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 97 

feet in size, which was quite large enough for our purpose. 
We paid him a five dollar piece in advance as an earnest of 
our bargain. 

After having arranged our business we walked around 
the city and viewed many of the stores, which, for size and 
display of goods, did not compare with like places in Phila- 
delphia. Everything about the business places betokened a 
quiet, easy way of doing business. The streets being nar- 
row, left no room for shade trees, therefore it did not com- 
pare with Philadelphia when we left on the fifth of October, 
when the principal streets were shaded by umbrageous 
trees, carriages passing to and fro, and many other signs of 
animated life. 

We turned our steps towards the beach and as we ap- 
proached near the palace we saw coaches approaching the 
palace yard and soon counted six large stage coaches, such 
as were daily seen leaving Boston for the outlying towns. 
These were drawn by four fine horses to each coach. One 
coach, the last one, had two mounted outriders. This coach 
was occupied by the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, and 
the Empress. On the box sat the driver and a lackey' and 
on the rear stood two footmen, all in uniform. As there 
were neither policemen nor soldiers to interfere, we has- 
tened to the grand entrance to the palace and ranged our- 
selves in double line at the archway, leaving a wide space 
between the lines. Tlie coaches were gaily painted in yel- 
low and gold while the horses were richly caparisoned. Out 
of the five coaches, when the attendants opened the doors, 
descended a number of gentlemen dressed in plain clothes' 
a few in uniform, and some in cassocks, who, I supposed', 
were bishops. These gentlemen formed themselves in a 
double line after their coaches had been driven away. Last 
of all the Emperor's coach was opened and I, and I suppose 
many others, saw a real live Emperor for the first time. 
After he descended he turned and waited upon his wife, the 
same as any real gentleman would do. Then he ofi'ered the 
Empress his left arm while in his right he held his chapeau. 
He was dressed in a green, close-buttoned military coat 
8 



98 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

black breeches with gold stripes down the legs, and mili- 
tary boots. He did not wear a sword, and only upon his 
breast he wore a single badge, which was blazing with dia- 
monds. The two royal personages passed between the 
lines of gentlemen, and as they passed the first two they also 
followed the royal pair, until all the gentlemen were in the 
royal train. When the royal couple reached to where I stood 
I saw before me as fine a looking gentleman as I ever saw in 
my life. He stood all of six feet or more, was admirably 
proportioned and looked perfectly grand. The Empress was 
a short, pleasant-faced blonde, and looked diminutive along- 
side of her imperial husband. They walked up the grand 
stairway leading to the grand salon. All the spectators fol- 
lowed, but by the time that I reached the grand chamber 
every one of the grand cortege had disappeared, having 
withdrawn to the private part of the palace. 

When I withdrew from the precincts of the palace and 
reflected upon all I had seen I was disappointed beyond 
measure. Here I had seen the Emperor of a great nation 
return from his country seat to his palace with his courtiers 
and retinue; had seen him descend from his coach, escort 
the Empress to the palace, and all this without the beat of 
drums or blast of trumpets. By the books which I had 
read in school I was led to expect that when I saw a real 
live king I would see a wonderful man in ermine cloak, 
golden crown on his head and a jeweled scepter in his hand, 
while every one in view would throw himself upon his knees 
while the king passed. But here was an emperor, more 
mighty than a king, who entered his palace without the 
pomp or circumstance supposed to attend royalty. Even 
more simple than this I saw in Paris afterwards, when Em- 
peror Louis Napoleon was in the zenith of his glory. Early 
one Sunday afternoon myself and companion engaged a 
cabriolet to take us to the Bois de Bologne, so that we 
might see the old historic mill, the grotto and other curiosi- 
ties, as well as to pass by the Arc. de Triomphe on our way. 
As we were passing by the Palace of the Tuilleries we saw a 
barouche drawn by a fine span of horses, a driver sitting on 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 99 

his perch and a footman standing on the rear, while in the 
carriage sat a gentleman dressed in plain black suit and silk 
hat, while beside him sat a lady in a traveling suit devoid of 
any bright colors. The gates were opened by the concierge 
and the vehicle came into the street. As it turned in the 
same direction in which we were going, our driver turned 
his head and said, sotto voce, " cest Vempereur." Just then 
the few persons on the sidewalk raised their hats and cried 
out, "Vive Vempereur!" at which the gentleman raised his 
hat and the lady made a very gracious bow. The driver 
afterwards told us that their majesties were on their way to 
the depot to take a special train for the Bois de Vincennes, 
where a horse-race was to take place. Now I feel convinced 
that very much that we learn from school-books we find in 
after life to have been highly colored and much of it en- 
tirely unnatural. 

When we returned to the ship that night I related to Mr. 
Bryson all that I had seen, and he said he had seen the 
King of Portugal, the King of Belgium and the King of 
Sweden; "but," said he, "what do they amount to com- 
pared with General Jackson, the hero of New Orleans ? He 
was a great soldier and afterwards a good President." 

We arranged among the seven of us that each one should 
take some part in the literary exercises of the Christmas din- 
ner, and to me was assigned that of poet of the occasion, as 
I had already composed some rhymes during the voyage. 
F^r this reason I staid on board all day on the 24th. About 
ten o'clock Capt. Blanchard came on board, and after having 
examined what was being done on board of the ship, had 
sounded the pumps, and ordered his gig to return on shore. 
As he reached the break of the quarter-deck to go over the 
gangway he said to the mate in an imperious manner, " Mr. 
Cranston, keep these landlubbers busy; make them work, 
for there is not an able seaman amongst the whole lot. " As 
he said this a sailor named Tom Harrold spoke, saying, 
" Captain, I am an able seaman, and not a job has been put 
in my hands on this ship that I didn't do in a seamanlike 
manner." Tom was standing by the after main shrouds, 



100 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

seizing on the sheerpole, and as he said this Capt. Blanchard 
grabbed him by the bosom of his shirt. No quicker said 
than done. Tom dropped his work and grasped the captain 
by his immaculate white vest and beautiful white shirt with 
his tarry right hand. The captain's face became livid. I 
think a tiger could not have looked more ferocious. He 
looked Tom right in the eyes; but Tom's gray eyes never 
quailed. After a minute the captain, seeing the cool man- 
ner and fearless eyes of Tom, loosed his hold, and then Tom 
dropped his grip. "Go forward, sirrah," hissed the cap- 
tain. Tom gave him a derisive smile, turned and went for- 
ward. Poor Mr. Cranston said not a word, for he was never 
made for a fighting man, and as to Mr. Bryson, I think his 
sympathy was with Tom, for he was the best man he had in 
his watch. The captain then ordered the mate to go to the 
guard-ship and demand the arrest of the mutinous sailor. 
The mate jumped into the gig with two men and rowed to 
the guard-ship, and in fifteen minutes the guard-boat, with 
six men and an officer with sword by his side, came along- 
side. The captain received the officer and explained the 
trouble to him. The officer called up the four marines, and 
with their short muskets marched forward and arrested poor 
Tom. They allowed him to take his monkey-jacket and a 
few plugs of chewing tobacco to solace him in his confine- 
ment. After the prisoner had been taken away the captain 
changed his rumpled shirt and vest and went ashore. After 
this we all breathed freer and all felt glad to be left to our- 
selves. 

I devoted the whole day to the composition of my part 
to be read at our Christmas dinne)'. In the evening the 
mate told me that it Avas probable that there would be a sur- 
vey held on the ship, and that it was supposed that the ship 
would be ordered under repairs as she was not in a proper 
condition to proceed on the voyage. She would have to be 
taken up to the upper harbor, where the wharves Avere, dis- 
charged and hove down to calk the bottom, as there was no 
graving dock in Rio. A ship, when she is empty, is easily 
hove down until her garboard streak is out of the water, and 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 101 

/ 

then a floating stage is hauled alougside and the bottom is 
calked, payed and painted. The mate said this would prob- 
ably take three months' time. This was a very discouraging 
outlook, but we had to grin and bear it. 

The next moroing ushered in Christmas Day. Early in 
the morning the joyful sounds of bells from the very numer- 
ous churches on shore floated over the water in sweet melo- 
dious strains and struck upon our ears in sweet, diminished 
cadence. We felt glad to know that we were in a Christian 
land. On this day was the Redeemer of mankind born in 
Bethlehem of Judea. On this day were the humble shep- 
herds on the plains of Judea advised by the heavenly angels 
of the birth of the Redeemer of mankind. 

We arrayed ourselves in our Sunday go-to-meeting best, 
and after breakfast we went ashore. As we passed the 
guard-ship we saw poor Tom on deck. He waived his hand 
in salutation and we all heartily responded. But we felt 
that we had our hands in the lion's mouth, and dared not 
interfere in his behalf, for if we incurred the captain's enmity 
we trembled for the consequences. After landing at the 
jetty everybody we met was arrayed in gay attire. The large 
stores were all closed and there were tokens on all sides that 
it was a grand holiday. At ten o'clock the grand mass was 
celebrated in all the churches, notably in the Emperor's 
chapel. Although a large edifice, yet it was not large enough 
to accommodate all that desired to enter. Nevertheless in a 
city containing more than fifty churches it was not difficult 
to gain entrance into one of them. 

In the afternoon, as is the usual custom on grand holi- 
days, there was a bull-fight in the amphitheater devoted to 
such exhibitions. One bull at a time was let into the arena, 
then the bandalier would approach him with a red cloth or 
guidon, which he swung before the bull, thereby illustrating 
the old adage of "shaking a red rag before a mad bull." 
At this the bull would make a rush at the man and the ex- 
pert bull-fighter would quickly move to one side and away 
went the bull with his head down and his tail up, which 
caused roars of laughter. Then came the spadores with 



102 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

small barbed lauces decorated with particolored paper. The 
lauce had a barbed point, which penetrated the hide suffi- 
cient for the barb to hold by and nothing more, and when- 
ever the spadore succeeded in darting one into the bull's 
hide he was applauded to the echo, for be it remembered 
that the bull wasn't idle while this was going on, and had 
he caught his tormentor he would perhaps have hurt him 
some, but the tips of the bull's horns were inclosed in some 
sort of buffers. There were several bulls brought in one 
after the other, but no injury was inflicted on man or beast. 

Now I will here say that I have read many diatribes writ- 
ten by well meaning humanitarians, all denouncing the prac- 
tice of bull fights. As to this I have nothing to say in de- 
fense of bull fighting for I do not approve of it, but how 
immeasurably worse is the horrible practice of man fight- 
ing. Among these people bull fighting is fostered by the 
government, and therefore they are to the manor born. But 
the English speaking people are more highly educated, and 
as Pope says '''tis education forms the common mind," 
and for that reason more is expected from the people of the 
United States. Americans train men to enter the prize ring 
and fight for a purse of thousands of dollars. AVhere are 
our learned, eloquent preachers that they allow such brutal 
practices without raising their voice in condemnation of 
such brutal pastimes, so demoralizing to men and so evil 
teaching to boys ? They stand m the pulpit on a Sunday 
and they turn their mental spyglass towards countries that 
encourage bull fights and lotteries — which, it must be ad- 
mitted, are injurious to the morals of the people — but they 
are a mere bagatelle compared with prize fighting. As our 
Divine exampler has said: ''Thou hypocrite, cast out first 
the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly 
to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. 

The American spectators left the Plaza do Toros very 
much dissatisfied with the performance, because there was 
neither a bull killed nor a man gored. They said it was too 
tame. 

We had agreed to be at the Hotel do Lisboa at 6 o'clock, 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 103 

and accordingly we wended our way to that place, where we 
arrived at half-past six. When we arrived and entered the 
grand dining-room the landlord greeted us in a very friendly 
manner, and directed one of the waiters to guide us upstairs 
to the banquet room. We were escorted up a flight of spiral 
iron stairs that led up from the rear part of the first floor. 
Some of my companions asked if we would be obliged to 
come down the same way. When I asked the waiter he 
laughed heartily, and told us that the broad stairway led 
down the front into the street. This explanation satisfied 
my friends, and we wended our way to the little room that 
had been prepared for us. Here we found a well prepared 
table, in the center of which was placed an immense cande- 
labra, holding twelve wax candles, which lighted the room 
with a soft mellow radiance. There were plates for seven 
persons, with the usual paraphernalia of a well appointed 
table. After we were seated the master of ceremonies de- 
livered the following Scotch introductory to the feast: 

" Some have meat who canna eat, 
Some have na meat to eat it; 
But we have meat and we can eat; 
So let the Lord be thank it." 

Our first dish was prawns — which are a specie of very large 
shrimps, which are quite common in New Orleans and Mo- 
bile as well as in Rio; these had been freed from the shell 
and seasoned with shallots vinegar and sweet oil. They 
were fine and supposed to increase the appetite. The next 
was vegetable soup; then fish — resembling in size the large 
Labradore herring — these were fried in oil. Then we had 
two roast chickens stuffed with Italian chestnuts — these 
were very fine. My companions had never before eaten 
such a dish, and they were delighted. Then a dish that we 
asked the waiter the name of. He said it was puchara. It 
was made of mutton, leeks, peas, carrots, and potatoes, and 
seasoned with green peppers. It was very piquant and very 
palatable. Then we had plantains fried in butter. After 
these substantials had been disposed of and washed down 
with copious draughts of Madeira wine, the waiter cleared 



104 . A Tale of Two Oceans. 

the table and brought dishes of almonds, walnuts, raisins 
and Brazil nuts, besides some sweet biscuits and more fresh 
bread, after which the waiter brought seven more bottles of 
wine, and then withdrew. We were now just entering into 
the spirit of the occasion. The toast master arose and an- 
nounced: My friends: " The day we celebrate, Christmas." 
Drank standing. As by previous arrangement this was re- 
sponded to by Mr. Shorb, the young Virginia lawyer, as 
follows: 

"My friends, the very name of Christmas brings a flood 
of recollection to my mind that causes tears of fond remem- 
brance to sufiuse my eyes. I can picture in my mind the old 
plantation in Virginia where I first saw the light of day, the 
roomy mansion, the large capacious rooms, the ample hearth 
with the yule log, which was placed therein on Christmas 
eve. My venerable father in his big chair on one side of 
the fireplace, and my darling mother in her cushioned rock- 
ing-chair on the other side, while we children sat in a semi- 
circle facing the cheerful fire on the hearth, while father told 
us the stories of olden times of Christmas. When Christ- 
mas eve arrived all the field hands on my father's plantation 
were given a complete exemption from labor, only being re- 
quired to feed and care for the stock during the holidays, 
which extended from Christmas eve until the day after New 
Tear's day. The hands were allow^ed to visit their friends 
on the neighboring plantations and to receive visitors during 
the day. In the evening my father would call into the house 
the fiddler and the banjo player — for there was no plantation 
in Virginia without its musicians — and they would play and 
sing old plantation melodies, interspersed with religious 
Methodist hymns — for the negroes of Virginia are religious 
and their religion runs into sacred song just as naturally as 
a mountain rivulet runs into its neighboring creek. During 
the evening the pitcher of cider was passed around, and oc- 
casionally my father would send a servant into the cellar to 
bring up a bottle of old peach brandy, which was passed 
among the men in moderate quantities. The Christmas day 
service at the little country church was more simple than 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 105 

that which we beheld to-day, but none the less sincere, and 
I trust none the less acceptable to our heavenly Father. For 
has He not said ' Where two or three meet together and that 
in my name there will I be in the midst of them.' After 
the service we would all return home, there would be a table 
set that would be impossible to describe — turkey, chicken, 
venison; and, not forgetting the staple Virginia dish, hog 
and hominy. Thus was celebrated the Christmas in old Vir- 
ginia, and I here express the hope that all here present may 
reproduce this picture, some future day, in the bosom of 
their own family and around their own fireside." 
This was followed by the song: 

" Carry me back to old Virginia, 
To old Virginia's shore." 

The next toast: " The President of the United States." 
Drank standing. This was responded to by a young man 
named Eockefeller, from Columbia county. New York, as 
follows: 

"My friends, I little thought last Christmas when I par- 
ticipated in the festivities of the season at my father's house 
in Smoky Hollow, about twelve miles from the city of Hudson, 
that one year from that time I would be thousands of miles 
away from my native land, in a country ruled over by an 
Emperor. But such are the vicissitudes in man's earthly ca- 
reer. The youug bird, when he is full fledged, has to leave 
the parent nest, and by the same rule of nature the boy, 
when grown, has to leave the parental roof and strike out 
for himself, and by that rule we are all of us here to-day. 
I was born but a few miles from Kinderhook, the home of 
ex-President Van Buren, and often have seen that honored 
gentleman after he had retired from public life. My father 
would say to me : * My boy, when you see Martin Van Bu- 
ren you are in the presence of a man who, during his presi- 
dency, was greater than any potentate on earth, for he was 
the acknowledged head of a great and powerful nation. He 
was placed there by the voice of his fellow citizens, who saw 
in him the qualities of a wise and good ruler, and when the 
constitutional limit of his rule was reached he withdrew to 



106 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

tliis, his rural borne, to pass his days in quiet contentment 
among his old neighbors, who look upon him as one of them- 
selves. My boy, this country changes rulers without any 
convulsion, or war of claimants, as in monarchical countries, 
for here everything is done according to law under the Con- 
stitution.' My friends, this is the first country that I have 
ever been in that is ruled by a monarch, and I must say that 
the people seem contented and happy, but I learn from his- 
tory that every country that is ruled by a monarch may be 
likened to a beautiful land under which is hidden a burning 
volcano, that is liable to break out at any moment, scattering 
death and desolation in its track. As for myself I will here 
say of my country, in the words of the poet: 

" Where'er I roam, wliat'er my lot may be, 
My heart untraveled fondly turns to thee." 

Song: 

" My country, 'tis of thee. 
Sweet land of liberty. 
Of thee I sing." 

The next in order was the poem of the evening which 
had been assigned me to write. I arose and recited the fol- 
lowing lines on wine: 

WINE. 

Preachers may preach and teachers teach. 
Of the evil effects of drink; 
Yet 'tis music sweet, to a man of wit. 
To hear the glasses clink. 

There's Webster and Clay — 

Now in their day, this nation's affairs do guide. 

At eleven a. m. each day are seen 

With bottles by their side. 

Say what you will, argue with skill, 
'Tis true beyond a doubt, 
Sparkling wine is a gift divine, 
Life would be dull without. 

My composition was received with great favor, and as 
they were ready to drink toasts they drank to the poem of 
the evening. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 107 

The evening was advancing apace, and as no boats were 
allowed to pass around the harbor unchallenged after twelve 
o'clock, midnight, we prepared to start for the beach. We 
summoned the waiter and asked for our bill. He soon re- 
turned and placed the bill upon the table. Oh! horror! our 
bill was thirty-five dollars. I thought of the old couplet: 

" We laugh loud and gay till the feast is o'er, 
But when the bill comes in we laugh no more." 

We had made our calculations for the price of the din- 
ner and for seven bottles of wine. But here we were— we 
had found the wine so seductive that unconsciously we had 
imbibed double our allotted quantity; therefore our dinner 
bill, added to what we had expended during the day, ex- 
ceeded our money on hand. In this quandary we called for 
another bottle of wine, and told the waiter that we invited 
the landlord to drink to the El Natale, with us. The land- 
lord soon appeared, and nothing loth, drank with us. We 
then explained to him that our bill — with the bottle just 
consumed added — was thirty-six dollars and fifty cents, and 
deducting the five dollars which we had paid in advance, 
left a balance of thirty-one dollars and fifty cents. We told 
him that we had among us twenty-nine dollars, and that it 
might take two dollars to pay the boatmen to take us on 
board the ship; therefore, if he would accept the twenty- 
seven dollars we would make up the balance by our patron- 
age while we were in port. The good man readily accepted 
the money, and showed his good will by inviting us to take 
another bottle of wine with him, which we accepted. We 
then started for the street by the broad stairway. As we 
sallied forth from the house and began to breathe the fresh 
night air the fumes of the wine began to rise into our heads, 
and some of my companions became quite hilarious. The 
singing mood came upon them, and they began the then 
common song: 

" We won't go home till morning, 
We won't go home till morning, 
We won't go home till morning, 
Till daylight doth appear." 



108 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

We found that there were others in the narrow streets 
celebrating like ourselves, and I began to feel apprehensive 
of some trouble. However, we reached the jetty after hav- 
ing been admonished by two policemen not to be so noisy. 
I told them that we were celebrating El Natale, and were 
on our way to the ship. When we arrived at the jetty we 
found only two boats there, and we were obliged to pay out 
the two dollars which the landlord had allowed us to retain, 
to take us to the ship. After we had embarked I began to 
breathe easy, for I had dreaded some trouble, because, as 
the old adage has it: "When wine is in, wit is out." As 
we pulled by the guard ship we were challenged, and the 
boatmen gave the proper response, and we were allowed to 
proceed. As soon as we had passed the guard ship my com- 
panions began to sing, in an uproarious voice, a song that 
was then in vogue — which had been composed after the bat- 
tle of New Orleans, where General Jackson, with his un- 
trained American troops but few in number, had defeated 
General Packenham with his well trained English troops, 
fresh from victories over the French troops that they had 
driven from the Peninsular of Portugal and Spain. 

The song ran thus: 

'• One Frenchman whip two Portuguees, 
One Englishman he'll whip all three, 
One Yankee'll whip all four, you see! 
And that's the way we do. 

Choetjs. 

And that's the way we do, 
And that's the way we do, 
And that's the way we do, 
And play the banjo too. 

Their boldness brought to my mind the words of Burns : 

" Inspiring John Barleycorn, 
What dangers thou dost make us scorn; 
With tupenny worth we fear no evil. 
With usquebaugh we'll face the devil." 

However, as our Portuguese boatman didn't understand a 
single word of this, therefore their national pride was not 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 109 

wounded. Well, we arrived on board our ship about twelve 
o'clock, midnight; the man on the anchor watch helped all 
hands aboard, and after a jolly Christmas day in 1849, we 
were glad to retire to our berths for the night. When we 
went ashore the following morning we learned that a brother 
of young Brainard had arrived in port. I was exceedingly 
glad to hear this news, for the youth had told me that his 
brother had sailed from New York in a hermaphrodite brig 
as second mate, bound to Para, Brazil, and knowing the 
desolate condition of the young fellow I was glad to hear 
that a person in interest who had a right to look into the 
matter had arrived in port. On this I strolled off alone and 
viewed some of the numerous churches with which Rio 
abounds. The exterior is not grand, yet they show consider- 
able taste; but for solidity of build they excel anything of 
the kind in the United States; they looked as if they were 
built to defy the ravages of time. It was evident to me that 
the city had been built by a people more active and energetic 
than those that we met daily — for the native Brazilians are 
languid and inactive, and not to be compared with their Por- 
tuguese progenitors. The city looked to me as though it 
was completed — that all that ever had been contemplated was 
finished. I didn't see a house in course of construction nor 
any new enterprise being carried out. I attributed this to 
the enervating effects of the tropical climate, for there are no 
more industrious and plodding people than the inhabitants 
of old Portugal. 

About one o'clock I became hungry, and as the cost of 
the dinner of the day before had made quite an inroad into 
my cash, I had to look about as to where I could satisfy my 
appetite at the smallest cost. As I was passing one of the 
squares I saw a modest little grocery, in the window of which 
was a large platter heaping full of fried fish, resembling 
large herring, and a number of rolls of fresh bread. I step- 
ped inside and asked the attendant how he sold the fish. He 
looked at me in astonishment, but told me that the price was 
ten reis apiece — equal to one cent American money. I asked 
how much per roll for the bread ? He said fifty reis — equal 



110 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

to five cents of American money. I bought five fishes and 
one loaf of bread, and asked permission to step behind a 
lot of boxes to eat them. He granted my request, and I ate 
the fish and the bread and drank a big draught of pure 
mountain water, and when I had finished my humble repast 
I felt as well satisfied as if I had feasted on turkey and 
champagne. After having passed the day in sight-seeing I 
returned, about five o'clock, to the jetty, when I heard the 
news of a sad and tragical event. 

As I have said before, there was a ship-chandler store 
facing the harbor, just below the Hotel Pharoux, conducted 
by an American, and resorted to by all new arrivals to hear 
the latest news from the United States. Among others, 
Capt. Blanchard made daily calls at this place. It seems 
that young Brainard, when he met his brother, had recounted 
to him the melancholy affair of the serious wound inflicted 
upon their father, who, for that reason, had to be taken 
ashore, and how he, by the intervention of the pilot, had 
been allowed to take his father's place; how the captain had, 
on the voyage, demanded all the papers that concerned his 
father's consignment on board the ship, and because he had 
declined to yield to the captain's unjust demand, he had 
thrown him ashore among strangers. This account of the 
misfortune of his dear father and his brother, combined 
with the fact that he himself had been left in the hospital at 
Para suffering from tropical fever, excited the young man 
to such a degree that he became frantic with grief and anger. 
The day after his arrival in Rio the elder Brainard, accom- 
panied by his younger brother, waited around the ship- 
chandler's until the captain should make his appearance. 
About four o'clock in the afternoon the captain strolled into 
the store, and the lad pointed him out to his brother. Brain- 
ard told the captain who he was, and pointed to his brother, 
who was at the door, to confirm his identity. Capt. Blan- 
chard replied, "that if he had any complaint to make as to 
the legality of his action he must lay the same before the 
American consul. But, if he had any personal grievance he 
could step out of the store and he could right it, there and 



A Tale of Two Oceans. Ill 

then." The young man walked from the back part of the 
long store, followed by the captaio. As the young man step- 
ped over the threshhold he turned to face the captain, when 
the latter drew back his right arm and let fly a terrific blow 
at Brainard's face. The young man ducked his head just in 
time to escape the blow that would have laid him "hors de 
combat." The failure of the captain to reach young Brain- 
ard had caused him to waste his strength on the desert air. 
The momentum of his fist was so great that it caused his 
body to sway forward, and at that moment young Brainard, 
in the twinkling of an eye, pulled his sheath knife and 
plunged it into the breast of the captain. The captain ex- 
claimed, "I am killed! " and fell back into the arms of a per- 
son who had hurried from the rear of the store. He was at 
once taken, by those who gathered around him, and carried 
most tenderly to his rooms in the hotel, where his grief- 
stricken wife met him with loud screams of terror. Doctors 
were at once summoned, who took charge of the wounded 
man. In the meantime the two brothers stood right still at 
the scene of the tragedy until the police arrived, to whom 
they were pointed out, and were at once taken to jail. 

It being now after six o'clock, I felt that it would be use- 
less to go to the jail to interview the brothers, therefore I 
joined my fellow passengers and went on board the ship. 
At the supper table, at which the chief mate presided, 
scarcely a word was said about the dreadful affair, all being 
apprehensive that an expression of opinion might prove pre- 
judical to their own well being; feeling that a very long voy- 
age was yet before us, and not knowing how affairs might 
turn out, I resolved in my mind that hit or miss I would es- 
pouse the cause of the two young fellows, so far as to see 
that they should secure fair treatment. To apply to the 
consul I knew would be of no use; as I before said, he was 
a nonentity. While strolling around the city I had made 
the acquaintance of a Hollander who had a furniture-making 
shop where he made chairs, tables, and such like in the front 
part, and had living rooms for himself and his family in the 
rear part. I had found him a very friendly man, and he had 



112 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

told me much about the Brazilians and their mode of life. 
He said they were a simple-minded and kind-hearted peo- 
ple, indolent and confiding, and if a man once won their 
good will they were his friends through thick and thin. As 
to himself and his wife, they found no congenial company 
among the natives, as they differed in their habits of life 
and in their religion. He and his wife had resolved, when 
their circumstances would permit, which would be in a short 
time, to return with their children to their fatherland to 
spend the evening of their life among the scenes of their 
childhood. To this good man I resolved to apply in the 
emergency for advise and guidance. I kept my own counsel 
and retired to my berth. The next morning I arose, shaved 
myself, and dressed myself scrupulously neat, and after 
breakfast I went ashore with my fellow passengers. We 
went to the hotel and inquired about the captain. We were 
informed that he was very low, indeed, as the knife had pen- 
etrated to very near his heart. The two doctors in attend- 
ance had said that it was a most miraculous escape from 
instant death. They said that if the fresh sea breeze would 
blow every day, that, with good nursing, might bring him 
around again; but if the winds went down and the summer 
heat set in, that would cause fever to supervene, in which 
event he would have no chance for recovery. Above all 
things they ordered absolute quiet for the patient, that no 
one should approach his bed but his wife and attendant. 
After receiving this news I immediately slipped out by my- 
self and inquired my Avay to the jail. When I arrived at 
the somber looking place I approached the iron gate and 
begged the gatekeeper to allow me to speak to the jailer. 
He called out to his mate and desired him to call the jailer. 
In a minute or two the jailer, in his uniform, came to the 
gate, and the gatekeeper pointed to me, and said something 
to him. He then approached the iron barricade, and as he 
did so. I made a profound bow, and when I told him my 
business there, he directed the gatekeeper to let me in. 
When I was admitted I at once proceeded to inform him 
about the affair of the youngest of the two prisoners, and 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 113 

what misfortunes he had suffered from the very first day that 
the ship had left Philadelphia until the very day of the sec- 
ond tragedy. The recital of my simple story produced 
such an effect upon him that he at once directed me to fol- 
low him. 

We ascended a flight of wide stone steps and landed on 
a wide, well lighted corridor. At the right hand were large 
iron-barred windows which faced a stone-flagged court. At 
the left-hand was a large grated door opening into an im- 
mense room wherein there appeared to be more than a hun- 
dred persons of all colors and nationalities. The jailer di- 
rected one of the prisoners to call the two young Americans 
that had been brought in the evening before. In a few mo- 
ments I saw young Brainard, in company with another per- 
son, making their way towards the grated door. As soon as 
he saw me the poor youth burst into irrepressible tears, 
while his companion preserved an air of stolid indifference. 
I told him how very, very sorry I was to learn of the dread- 
ful occurrence, and that I had come to him to offer my sym- 
pathy and my service. He then introduced me to his 
brother, at the same time saying that the South American 
fever had left him but a wreck of his former self. And he 
might well call him a wreck, for he looked so emaciated that 
he seemed to be nothing more than a cadaver. He appeared 
to be about twenty-five years of age, with a dull, listless 
look, and seemed as though he didn't care what became of him. 
The youth described to me the particulars of the encounter 
between his brother and the captain; of the latter's brutal 
and bullying manner, and of his effort to kill his poor, tot- 
tering brother with one blow of his powerful fist. But, as 
to the result, he had no idea in the world that his brother 
would resort to such extreme measures. But it was now 
done and could not be recalled. But as to himself he was 
just as ignorant of his brother's design before the occurrence 
as a child unborn. I proffered my services in his behalf, 
and told him that I would proceed to do anything that he 
wanted done. He replied that he could not do much with- 
out money; he had a small sum that he had retained from 

9 



114 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

his father's purse, and his brother had received from the 
American Consul at Para the three month's Avages which 
the law required of the captain of the vessel when he placed 
a man in the hospital in a foreign port. And, further, there 
was the valuable shipment of goods of his father's, which 
would have to be landed in order to heave the ship down for 
repairs. I told him I would proceed at once to see what 
could be done. I at once proceeded to the shop of my new 
made friend, the Hollander. When I arrived at his house 
I found him there, working away on some beautiful Brazil 
wood which he was turning, with a foot-lathe, into highly 
ornamented chair legs. He greeted me pleasantly, and bade 
me sit down. I at once opened the object of my call, and 
told him the story of the youth from the very beginning. 

After he had heard me through he said it was a most de- 
plorable affair, and that he felt a hearty sympathy for the 
two unfortunate strangers. He then told me of a native 
lawyer, who was of Dutch parentage, named Van Praag, and 
a man of fine talents and great influence in the community, 
and he was confident that if he would espouse the cause of 
the two young men, whatever was possible he would do it 
for them. He wrote the name and address of the lawyer, 
and placed his own name at the bottom of the paper. 

I at once went to the designated place and the house. I 
asked the Negro porter for the master, and he directed me 
up a flight of stairs. When I arrived at the landing I found 
myself on a balcony overlooking a courtyard that was a ver- 
itable Garden of Eden. There were banana and fig trees, 
rose bushes and magnolias, and in fact almost everything to 
delight the senses. This on the right hand side. On the 
left were the doors for entering the house. I told the foot- 
man my business, and at the same time handed him the pa- 
per which I had received from my friend Vanderdekken. 
He opened the door into a room that fronted on the street 
and bade me enter, which I did. I found myself in a room 
that was not very large, and lined on all sides with book- 
cases which were filled with enough books to start a large 
New England library. In the center was a large table cov- 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 115 

ered with green baize on which were a few books, some of 
which were open, inkstand, pens and blank paper. I now 
knew I was in the office of the lawyer and felt convinced that 
it was his family mansion. I stood in the room for more 
than five minutes anxiously waiting for the man that might 
help my young friends. 

After a time the gentleman came with the scrap of paper 
in his hand and bowed to me and bid me good morning. If 
I had not been told who he was I would have supposed that 
he had just landed from a Dutch ship. He was a broad 
faced, light complexioned, curly headed, blue eyed man of 
about forty years of age. His genial manner caused me to 
feel quite free to tell him my story, which I proceeded to do 
in as few words as possible. After I had finished my narra- 
tive he asked me as to their means at hand. I told him of 
the limited amount they had, but that they had a large quan- 
tity of valuable freight on board the ship, which would 
have to be discharged in order to repair the ship, and then 
it might be got hold of or be hypothecated to whoever would 
advance the necessary money to defray expenses that have 
to be incurred. He placed his left elbow upon the table 
and rested his forehead upon his left hand. He remained 
in meditation for as much as three or four minutes, appar- 
ently unconscious of my presence. After a time he raised 
his head and said: "Young man, if I find that everything 
is as you have related I shall take this case in hand and I 
will try my best to help the two poor strangers." He looked 
up at the clock and said, " It is now eleven o'clock; you may 
come here at half-past two o'clock, and £ will then be ready 
to go with you to the jail where I can see the two young 
men." I withdrew from his presence with a light heart, 
for I felt that I had enlisted the sympathies of a powerful 
friend in the cause of the two captives. 

As I walked along the street I saw a sight that reminded 
me of Gibraltar. That was a goatherder driving a number 
of goats from house to house, and at each house where he 
stopped he would take an earthen measure from a girdle 
around his waist and proceed to draw from the udder of one 



116 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

of the goats as much milk as was desired to supply his cus- 
tomer. After this he would secure the measure to his gir- 
dle and trot aloug again to the house of the next customer. 
He would call out to the goats in a way that sounded like 
*' rah-bah-rarm," and the goats would run along and halt 
directly in front of his next customer. I thought if this 
mode prevailed in Philadelphia that the Fairmouut Water- 
works would have the demand upon its aqueous supply very 
much diminished. 

I strolled around until I became hungry, and finding an 
humble posada or inn I went in and asked for a cup of cof- 
fee. It was brought to me and also a small roll of bread. 
The cotfee was delicious, flavored with goats' milk and sweet- 
ened with loaf sugar. I asked the lady how much, and she 
answered fifty reis; this was equal to five cents of American 
money, which I paid. 

As I passed into the street it impressed me with its quiet- 
ness; not a vehicle nor scarcely any person in the street; 
profound stillness with only the occasional salutations of the 
women to one another from opposite balconies. I wondered 
to myself, when do these people work and how do they earn 
their living ? 

At two o'clock I wended my way back to the mansion of 
the lawyer. When I arrived there the Negro porter recog- 
nized me and waived his hand for me to enter and ascend 
the stairs, which I did. When I reached the lauding the 
footman went to the door of the ofiice and announced me to 
his master. As he returned to the door he waived to me to 
enter. When I went in the lawyer was seated at the table 
examining and poring over some books. When I entered he 
bade me sit down and said that he would go with me di- 
rectly. He withdrew into the interior portion of the man- 
sion, from whence I heard childish voices and innocent 
laughter, giving proof that he was a gentleman of domestic 
responsibilities. When he returned into the ofiice I saw 
that lie was metamorphosed into a most elegant looking 
gentleman. He was dressed in white shirt with ruflled 
bosom, white linen trowsers, white necktie, white Marseilles 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 117 

vest, black alpaca coat, leghorn straw high hat, low mo- 
rocco shoes and white stockings. In his hand he carried a 
silk umbrella, which he opened when we reached the street 
to protect himself from the hot midsummer sun. 

When we reached the street he desired me to tell him the 
story again about the young men, which I did in as few 
words as possible : How when the steamer towed the ship 
down the Delaware river the ship was anchored off abreast 
of New Castle, where we went ashore and brought off sev- 
eral demijohns of whisky; how Capt. Brainard and one 
other passenger, who had been a volunteer and served under 
General Scott in Mexico, and for these reasons espoused his 
cause, while Capt. Brainard, on his side, advocated General 
Taylor, which culminated in the ex-volunteer cutting the 
throat of Capt. Brainard. That Brainard being at the point 
of death was taken ashore, and his young son was allowed 
to take his father's papers and continue in the ship in place 
of his father. How the captain had driven him on shore 
where his brother, having arrived from Para, had met him, 
and in an altercation with Capt. Blanchard he had stabbed 
him and the captain was supposed to be in extreme danger. 
He then delivered a homily on American jurisprudence, with 
which subject he seemed to be quite familiar, and said that 
the laws of the United States, as laid down in the books, 
were most admirable, but there was a laxity in their en- 
forcement. For example, if such a tragic affair had taken 
place in the harbor of Rio Janeiro as what had taken place 
in the Delaware river, the ship would not have been allowed 
to proceed on her voyage until the witnesses had given their 
deposition and everything had been done to secure the trial 
and conviction of the culprit. Further, he said that he had 
read many decisions rendered by judges in the State law 
courts of the United States that were so contrary to reason 
and common sense, on which all laws should be founded 
that it led him to the conclusion that many of the jud^-es 
laid themselves liable to the charge of venality in the dis- 
charge of their important duties. 

We had now arrived at the portal of the jail. As soon 



118 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

as the guard at the gate espied the lawyer he spoke to his 
assistant and he fetched the jailer. The iron gate was at 
once thrown open and the lawyer was received with much 
obsequiousness, and after a few words with the jailer was 
escorted up the stone stairway to the floor above. The law- 
yer bade me follow. As soon as we arrived at the lauding 
the jailer promptly drew a key from his pocket and opened 
the iron barred door, and ordered the youth Brainard to 
come into the corridor. I introduced him to the lawyer, 
and he then told his plain, unvarnished story, to which the 
lawyer paid close attention. At the conclusion the lawyer 
asked about the papers, and the youth told him that he had 
them secured about his person. The lawyer bid him to 
hand them over to him, for which he would give him a re- 
ceipt, which he at once wrote at the desk in the corridor, 
and then told him to wait patiently until the next day, while 
he would call upon the magistrate and see what the charge 
was against him. The youth was then returned inside the 
grated door and the key turned upon him. 

After we returned to the street the lawyer told me to 
come to his office the next morning at ten o'clock, and he 
would then tell me what could be done. We now parted 
and I proceeded to the jetty, it being five o'clock, and hav- 
ing accomplished the engaging of a great lawyer for the two 
unfortunates, I returned to the ship with a light heart. On 
board the ship I didn't disclose my doings to any one, as 
the subject was not one that could be openly discussed. 
After supper I retired to my berth thoroughly tired with the 
day's labors, and slept until morning. 

The next morning after breakfast I polished myself up 
and was ready for the first boat, which left the ship at nine 
o'clock. Many of the passengers, who had money, having 
found out that they could board ashore in an humble way 
very cheap, had taken board and lodgings on shore, so that 
the few impecunious ones like myself felt like interlopers, 
but for all that we knew that we had a right to be on board, 
as we had paid our two hundred dollars in Philadelphia to 
be taken to San Francisco. When we arrived on shore I 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 119 

went immediately to my good friend Vanderdekken and re- 
ported progress. He said he was very glad that so accom- 
plished a lawyer as Van Praag had consented to take the 
case of the two prisoners in hand, and he thought that of 
itself would go a long ways to ameliorate their condition in 
the jail, as the lawyer was a man of great influence in the 
community. 

I then went to the oflSce of the lawyer and he received 
me in his ojfice. He told me that he had obtained an inter- 
view with the committing magistrate, on the evening pre- 
vious, in behalf of the youth, and had explained to him that 
the crime was committed by the elder brother without the 
youth's previous knowledge as to what was to take place. 
Therefore the judge had said that he would give him an an- 
swer on this day at three o'clock. The lawyer told me that 
this was the summer vacation of the courts, lasting from 
Christmas week until after Saint Sebastian's day, the patron 
saint of Rio Janeiro, as the harbor was discovered on his an- 
niversary. So he told me to return to his office at two 
o'clock, at which time I should go with him to the mansion 
of the magistrate. I withdrew expressing my sincere thanks 
for his kindness. 

As I walked about the city I came upon a large two- 
story stone mansion surrounded with very high stone walls, 
above which I could see the tops of trees. It inclosed a 
large space. I inquired as to the identity of the establish- 
ment and was informed that it was an asylum for female 
children, and that it was under the immediate patronage of 
the Emperor and Empress, and in charge of an order of re- 
ligious ladies. There were received female children that 
were orphans or abandoned by their cruel parents. They 
were reared and educated in mental and physical usefulness — 
reading, writing, arithmetic, sewing, cooking, and all useful 
branches of every day life work. Many young men go there 
to seek a wife, and when they furnish a guarantee of good 
moral and industrious character they are allowed into the 
reception room, where they may meet such young women as 
are eligible for the duties of wedded life. When they choose 



120 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

one and the desire is reciprocal the young man is required 
to make a reasonable donation to the institution, or else to 
furnish a guarantee to do so at a reasonable period in the 
near future. Such of the girls as are placed with respect- 
able families are looked after by accredited agents of the in- 
stitution, so that it is said that there is not a little girl 
within the limits of Rio Janeiro that needs a parent's care 
but what she receives it with parental solicitude. 

I to-day revisited the little grocery facing the square and 
ate my simple repast of fried fish with the roll of bread, 
which I paid ten cents for. At two o'clock I presented my- 
self at the office of the lawyer and found him ready to go 
to the house of the magistrate. As we w^ent along he asked 
about myself, and I told him I was a sailor, without any do- 
mestic ties, and seeking my fortune w^herever I thought it 
could be found. He replied that the best way for a young 
man to seek fortune was to have industrious hands and an 
honest purpose, which, in time, will win him a competency 
and a clean and easy conscience wherewith to enjoy it. 

We had now arrived at the place of our destination. In 
the- archway stood a Negro concierge dressed in a livery. 
He knew the lawyer and bowed profoundly. The lawyer, as 
we walked into the courtyard, bade him to announce his 
presence to the magistrate, which he at once went to do, 
while we seated ourselves on the settees placed arouud. 
The lackey soon returned and told the lawyer that his mas- 
ter was ready to receive him. The lawyer arose and pro- 
ceeded to the door whence the Negro had emerged, and left 
me seated. 

I now reflected over the sad affair of the stabbing of the 
captain, and how dreadful was the situation of the two 
brothers, who were now in prison in a strange land, without 
a relative or a near friend with the power to aid them, for 
however willing I might be, I was without money and there- 
fore without the means that are indispensable in all emer- 
gencies that arise in civilized communities whereby any 
effective action can be taken. 

At the expiration of about fifteen minutes a footman came 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 121 

to me and told me to follow him. I obeyed and we entered 
a spacious room with high ceiling and rich stucco work 
around. The floor was of polished wood, and a number of 
large heavy chairs with leather cushions were ranged around 
the room. On a raised dais was an imposiog, dark com- 
plexioned gentleman, with a large polished wood desk in 
front of him, and from the wall back of him extended a can- 
opy of rich damask cloth. Over his head was the imperial 
coat of arms of Brazil. At a table in front of the desk sat a 
youug, pale-faced man, writing a document. The lawyer, 
who was sitting near the table, motioned to me to approach 
and I did so with awe, feeling that I was now in the pres- 
ence of a personage who possessed great power. The law- 
yer spoke in a familiar manner to the gentleman that sat on 
the chair of state, and they exchanged a few words. Then 
the young man passed up the document, which the gentle- 
man read and to which he afl&xed his name and handed 
back to the young man, who then folded it and afiixed some 
words to the back and handed the document to the lawyer, 
who at once, without looking into it, handed it to me, at the 
same time saying, "Take this to the jail and deliver it to 
the chief jailer, and he will at once release your young friend, 
and to-morrow morning you must escort him to my office, 
and we will then have a conference." 

I received the precious document with a throbbing heart. 
I have my doubts whether General Scott felt more proud of 
his achievement when he received the surrender of the City 
of Mexico than I did of mine, through the kind and generous 
and God-inspired act of this blessed, whole-souled stranger, 
the lawyer of Kio de Janeiro. I withdrew after giving vent 
to a profusion of thanks, and as I reached the street I felt 
so light that I seemed to fly, on the wings of the wind, to- 
wards the jail. 

When I reached the iron-grated door the gatekeeper sent 
for the jailer, while I waited on the outi<ide. In a few mo- 
ments the jailer arrived, and ordered the gate to be opened. 
As I entered the courtyard I handed the precious document 
to the jailer, who opened it, read it carefully, folded it and 
took it to his office, in the rear part of the yard, and returned. 



122 A Tal^ of Two Oceans. 

He then told me to sit down on a bench, and ordered one of 
his attendants to go upstairs with him. While thej were 
gone I looked around me, and observed that the lower or 
first floor was divided into cells, with strong, heavy doors, 
and I learned that prisoners, after conviction and sentence, 
were placed in those cells preparatory to being sent to the 
stone quarries, some miles away, near the mouth of the har- 
bor. After some ten minutes the jailer and his attendant 
descended the stone stairs with the liberated young fellow 
walking between them; as soon as he saw me he ran to me 
and grasped my hand with intense fervor. He said that 
words were inadequate to express his feelings, but his action 
in the future Avould give proof of his gratitude. As we were 
in the act of leaving the jailyard, what was my astonishment 
to see at the gate the chief mate of the ship, Mr. Cranston, 
with his gold-bowed spectacles on his nose and a broad smile 
on his face. He grasped young Brainard by the hand and 
congratulated him on his liberation. I felt perfectly dis- 
gusted with such manifest duplicity. But his early arrival 
at the jail convinced me that the magistrate had sent a doc- 
tor to the hotel to learn the condition of the captain before 
he would set young Brainard free, and that was how the mate 
got an inkling of what was going on. 

After the mate parted from us, I took the youth to the 
house of my adviser, Mr. Vandardekken, to whom I intro- 
duced him, at the same time making due acknowledgment 
for his great kindness and guidance. 

I then accompanied my young friend to the door of his 
boarding house; after arranging to meet him in the morning, 
I proceeded to the jetty and took a boat for the ship. I ar- 
rived on board at half-past six o'clock and found that the 
news had preceded me. My fellow-passengers said I had 
done a good deed; but, said they, how will you stand with 
the captain if he gets well and takes charge of the ship? 
This set me to thinking; and I discovered that I had become 
a marked man on board. I was a little late — as six o'clock 
was the hour for supper — but the steward served me an extra- 
fine supper, and impressed upon me that I had acted the 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 123 

part of a good Samaritan, and to have no fear of the conse- 
quences, where a noble act was concerned. I learned that 
during the day the steamship " Tennessee " had arrived — 
twenty- six days from New York — and therefore, as this was 
the twelfth day of January, she would have papers as late as 
December 17th, 1849. I determined to go on board of her 
the following day and obtain some New York papers which 
had been read and were of no further use to the people on 
board. I retired to my berth with the feeling of having 
done what was right, but I could see by the manner of the 
mate that I would be in bad favor after this episode. 

The next morning, as I was preparing to go ashore, Mr. 
Bryson, the second mate, spoke to me, and said: "Young 
feller, I hear that you made yourself busy enough to get 
young Brainard out of the jug. You done a good deed. I 
feel for the two young fellers, although I never saw tother 
one, but they are both Philadelphia boys, and so'm I, and 
that's enough for me. Now, I'll give you a piece of advice> 
and that is this — don't you have anything more to do with 
the old man than you can help. When we leave here, don't 
you turn to work again or have anything to do about deck — 
eat, drink, and sleep, the same as any passenger, and then 
if the old man interferes with you it will be a sorry day for 
him. He is my commanding officer and I don't want to say 
any more. Keep clear of the mate, for he and the captain 
suck through the same quill." After this kindly admonition 
he turned to attend to his usual duties, while I jumped into 
the boat, with others of my fellow-passengers, and we went 
on shore. 

After landing I went to my young friend and found him 
already to proceed " to the lawyer, which we did at once. 
When we arrived at the house the porter bade us go upstairs, 
and when we ascended to the balcony the footman escorted 
us to the office, where we found the lawyer awaiting us. He 
saluted us pleasantly and congratulated Brainard on having 
obtained his freedom. On the table I saw that he had the 
bills of lading, the list of goods, and many of the bills of 
goods which were receipted. " Now," said the lawyer, "we 



124 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

will enter into business at once. I see that your father has 
goods on board the ship ' Samson ' that cost him all of two 
thousand dollars. A marine board has surveyed the ship 
and have ordered her to be discharged, and repaired so as 
to be seaworthy. Now, the question is whether enough of 
these goods can be segregated from the cargo, and sold here, 
to enable you to defray the necessary expenses that you will 
have to incur in order to employ counsel to defend your 
brother in the court. For you must know that in Brazil you 
cannot buy justice — which I fear is not the case in your 
country — but you can make a proper presentation of your 
case, with all the mitigating circumstances in favor of the 
accused, and to do this, involves much labor and legal skill; 
and here, as in other countries, such services must be paid; 
for, as the holy writ tells us, ' the laborer is worthy of his 
hire.' I will now go to the American Consul, with whom I 
am well acquainted, and will see what can be done. And if 
I fail to make any satisfactory arrangement with him, I will 
then draw up a bond of hypothecation which you and your 
brother will sign and acknowledge in the presence of the 
vVmerican Consul, and I will send that to San Francisco and 
there it will be collected when the ' Samson ' arrives there. 
This being disposed of for the present, I will advise you as 
to your brother. When I saw him in the prison my heart 
softened to see a living skeleton as he is, standing there 
charged with such a heinous crime as an attempt at murder. 
And, on the other hand, he must be a cowardly bully that 
would raise his hand to strike such a shadow of a man as 
your brother is. Now let me advise you, as I am given to 
understand that you and brother have some money between 
you, the very first act of yours should be to arrange with 
the nearest eating place to the prison to supply you with 
good and regular meals for your brother, which you must 
take to him yourself, and I will arrange with the jailer that 
he shall allow the prisoner to come out into the corridor to 
eat his food. Tell him to eat and become strong, and as to the 
rest he may trust to me, with unwavering confidence, that all 
will be done for him that legal skill and acumen can accom- 
plish. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 125 

** Now as to your good friend here, he has proved the 
truth of the old adage, which says : 

" A friend in need is a friend indeed, 
And prized as such should be, sirs, 
While summer friends, when summer ends, 
Are off and o'er the sea, sirs." 

" Now that he has served you so well you had better release 
him from any further attendance for fear that it may excite 
a prejudice on the part of the captain against him." He 
then bade me good by, adding that he thought I was an 
honest fellow and hoped I would succeed in life. I never 
saw him after that time; but whenever I met a good man my 
mind always reverted to the good lawyer in Eio de Janeiro. 
After we withdrew from the lawyer young Brainard went to 
the jail to see his brother and select a place from which to 
obtain his meals, while I strolled towards the harbor, and 
on the way stopped again at the little tavern where I again 
took a cup of rich coffee with goat's milk and a nice roll, for 
all of which I paid five cents, for now "grass was getting 
short with me." 

When I reached the beach I found several California 
bound passengers who, like myself, desired to visit the steam- 
ship "Tennessee," and we at once engaged a boat to take 
us out and back for two dollars, as she laid all of three miles 
from the shore, for the harbor of Eio is at least ten miles 
wide in front of the city. We were six in number, each one 
payiog his proportion. As we were going off to the steamer 
some of them said that if they could secure a passage on her 
they would gladly forfeit what they had paid for their pass- 
age on the " wind jammer " and go in a craft that could sail 
right in the wind's eye. But alas, for their hopes ! When we 
arrived on board we were received in a most friendly man- 
ner. The purser informed the applicants for a passage that it 
had been arranged in New York to have as many passengers 
on the Isthmus by the time that the steamer arrived in Pana- 
ma as the ship could accommodate; therefore they had been 
ordered, before leaving New York, not to take any passengers 
on board at Rio, where they were to touch to replenish their 



126 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

stock of coal. As to obtaining newspapers we were more 
fortunate. The chief engineer was named Mr. Bills — who 
afterwards established a shop on Jackson street in San Fran- 
cisco, to repair the machinery of steamboats — he kindly in- 
structed one of the stewards to gather up all the stray papers 
that he could find and give the same to us. We therefore 
had a heterogeneous collection of newspapers from all the 
prominent cities in the eastern and middle States, in date up 
to December sixteenth previous. To us this was a grand 
feast. In these we found the news that made me feel very 
uneasy, for it announced the fact the California fever was in- 
creasing in every town from Eastport to the Capes of Vir- 
ginia. Mechanics were leaving their workshops, small farm- 
ers were mortgaging their farms, and even ministers were 
leaving their pulpits to join the grand procession that was 
marching towards the El Dorado. I felt as though we were 
left out in the cold. I thought that by the time we arrived 
there that every bushel of gold dust in California would be 
dug up, sacked, and carried away. These thoughts seem 
ridiculous at this late day, but it must be borne in mind that 
at the time when we started for California we had only a 
crude idea about the manner of getting the gold, or as to 
how much we would dig up per day. In fact, all we did 
know was that there was lots of gold in California, and that 
we only knew by hearsay. 

I found in a Philadelphia paper an article that interested 
me very much. It was nothing less than the account of the 
trial of the culprit that cut the throat of Capt. Brainard on 
October fifth, on board the ship " Samson," then lying off 
New Castle and bound to California. The article detailed 
all the particulars of the tragic affair; how Capt. Brainard 
was taken ashore, supposed to be in a dying condition; how 
the culprit was brought ashore at the same time and im- 
prisoned; how the captain hovered between life and death 
for many days; how by skillful medical treatment and care- 
ful nursing by his family, who attended him in New Castle, 
he had finally recovered; how the culprit was put on trial 
and was acquitted by reason of there being only one witness 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 127 

to testify against him, and thus he had escaped scot free. I 
was highly delighted to learn of the recovery of Capt. Brain- 
ard, and was resolved to convey the news aud the paper to 
young Brainard the next morning. Every one ou board the 
ship was highly pleased to hear of the recovery of Capt. 
Brainard, at the same time expressing the hope that Capt. 
Blanchard would be as fortunate, so that the ship might 
be quickly put in trim, so that we could resume our voyage 
towards the land of gold. 

The next morning I carried the newspaper ashore with 
me, and as soon as young Brainard read the account of his 
father's complete recovery, he became so much elated that 
he skipped around like one that was demented. I gave him 
the newspaper that he might show it to his brother, and as 
I had nothing more to do I sauntered around the town view- 
ing the strange sights. Some of my fellow-passengers forced 
me, against my will, to go with them to see about buying 
some crude diamonds, of which they had read in their school- 
books, wherein Brazil was described as the great depository 
of the finest diamonds, which were taken out of dark, deep 
mines in the mountains by slaves. In order to please them, 
as I couldn't buy a diamond even if they were selling at a 
dollar a pound^ I guided them to the Kua do Ouvidor, which 
was the center of the rich retail trade. There were four of us, 
and as we entered the store one of the clerks came forward and 
I explained our business to him. He at once went to the 
office in the further end of the store, which, being on a cor- 
ner, the office faced another and narrower street, and in- 
formed the head man. He came forward to where we were 
waiting aud bowed very politely, and I explained to him 
that my companions were moneyed gentlemen and desired 
to invest some of their money in crude Brazilian diamonds. 
As soon as he understood what I had said he burst into an 
uncontrollable fit of laughter that caused me to feel very 
much abashed. When he discovered my apparent discom- 
fiture he apologized for his seeming rudeness, and then pro- 
ceeded to explain that he was a native of Brazil, although he 
had served his apprenticeship in Paris, but in all his life had 



128 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

only seeu as many natural rough diamonds as he could count 
on his fingers. He said that the government was very strict in 
regulating the product of the diamond mines and required 
of the managers thereof a quarterly account of all diamonds 
obtained, and also demanded a royalty for every diamond 
that was mined. Then there was an export duty to be paid 
before they were allowed to be sent abroad. He said the 
diamond cutting industry was unknown in Brazil; that there 
were lapidaries in the city, but he didn't know any one of 
them that cut and polished diamonds. Then he told me 
that a number of Americans had called at his place on the 
same errand. I then told him that the Americans imbibe 
their ideas about diamonds from school-books, in which are 
published a lot of trash about kings, emperors, diamonds 
and other things that have no foundation in fact. When I 
explained this to my friends they seemed much disappointed, 
having anticipated a large gain from the purchase of dia- 
monds in their natural state. 

Our captain was improving daily, as we learned from the 
mate, as none of the passengers had been allowed to see 
him. 

It was now the eighteenth of January, and yet the ship 
had not been taken to the upper harbor, where she was to 
be discharged and hove down for repairs. I felt that we 
were wasting precious time, and besides I felt uneasy as to 
how I would get along with the captain after we got to sea. 
Several of our passengers, among them two gentlemen and 
their wives, had become disgusted with the ship and had 
taken passage in another vessel and had already sailed for 
California. The following day, as I was walking around near 
the landing, I was surprised to see, among a group of Ameri- 
cans who were passing by, a young man named Simon Brown- 
nell, with whom I had been well acquainted in Boston. I 
saluted him and as soon as he recognized me he returned 
the salutation in a most hearty manner. After exchanging 
the account of our experiences since we had met in Boston, 
I proceeded and told him how I had taken cabin passage 
in the ship " Samson," Capt. Blanchard, from Philadelphia 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 129 

for San Francisco, and all other particulars with which the 
reader is already acquainted. He told me that he was a 
passenger on board the ship *' Urania," Capt. Buckland, 
from Boston and bound to San Francisco. He told me that 
Capt. Buckland was of Cape Cod and a most elegant gentle- 
man. I told him that I felt that I was wasting time, and sin- 
cerely wished to get- on board of some ship where I could 
work my passage, as I had invested what money I had in 
Philadelphia in a venture of such articles as I thought I 
could sell in the land of gold, and the goods were on board 
the "Samson." He replied that he would introduce me to 
Capt. Buckland and would recommend me as being a sailor 
as he knew me to be. I thanked him for his friendly offer 
and kind intentions. He told me to be at the American 
ship chandlery at nine o'clock the next morning and he 
would* speak to the captain for me in advance. I again 
thanked him and promised to be on hand the next morning 
and then we parted. I was now full of hope. I felt that I 
saw an avenue of escape from a most disagreeable position. 
I went on board the ship that evening buoyed by the hope 
that I would yet escape from the thraldom in which I found 
myself. I ate my supper and retired to my berth without 
saying anything to any of my fellow-passengers about my 
project. 

The following morning I divulged my intention to Mr. 
Bryson, the second mate, whom I looked upon as my friend. 
He advised me to do so by all means, for he felt convinced 
that when Capt. Blanchard returned to the ship he would 
make matters very unpleasant for me, as he looked upon 
him as being a very vindictive man. I went ashore and 
reached the American chandlery by half-past nine o'clock. 
Mr. Brownnell was already there, and after salutations told 
me that he had already communicated to Capt. Buckland all 
about me, and he felt confident that I would be given a 
chance to work for my passage. He requested me to Avait 
with him until the captain came, as he expected him at the 
chandlery very soon. I waited with my friend and told him 
many incidents that occurred during my voyage. I told 

10 



130 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

him about Neptune and about the water-spout and other 
things. While I was rattling with my yarns he admonished 
me that the captain was approaching. As he indicated I 
looked up and saw a gentleman approaching that stood at 
least six feet two inches high, with a Websterian head and 
brown complexion and the carriage of an admiral. He sa- 
luted Mr. Brownnell and Mr. Brownnell introduced me as 
the person of whom he had spoken the evening before. The 
captain saluted me with condescension, and I then recited 
to him my affairs and told him of the dilemma in which I 
was placed without the means to help myself. After he 
heard me he said that, although he had a good crew, that 
some of them were not so expert aloft as men that had 
always sailed in square-rigged vessels, and therefore, as I 
was recommended by Mr. Brownnell, he would take me, but 
did not want to ship me in a formal manner through the 
consular office as that involved considerable expense, but as 
he intended to sail on Tuesday or Wednesday I could come 
on board and bring my chest and he would instruct the mate 
to permit me to come on board the ship. The captain then 
left me and passed into the ship chandlery. My heart beat 
fast at this announcement, and the following beautiful lines 
came to my mind: 

" Ye fearful saints fresh courage take; 
The clouds you so much dread 
Are big with mercy and will break 
In blessings on your head." 

For whereas I had been despondent and fearful before, I 
now felt that the clouds of darkness were breaking away and 
the bow of promise showed itself to my mind. 

I now laid out my plans. I went to the entrance of the 
Hotel Pharoux and there awaited the arrival of the first 
mate, Mr. Cranston, who I knew came there daily to make 
his report to the captain. He arrived about eleven o'clock, 
and I accosted him in my politest manner. I told him that 
I had alieady expended all my spare change, and for that 
reason would be obliged to stay on board the ship alto- 
gether, and now having met an acquaintance he had kindly 



A Tale of Two Oceans, 131 

induced the captain of the ship on which he was a passenger 
to give me the chance to work for my passage to San Fran- 
cisco. Now what I desired of him was to secure me an in- 
terview with Capt. Blanchard about the balance of my 
passage money and an allowance of my two months' wages. 
The mate bade me wait in front of the hotel for a time, and 
if he found the captiiin in a condition to converse he would 
then come down and call me. He went upstairs and I 
awaited his return, but whatever his answer might be, I had 
already determined to avail myself of the glorious oppor- 
tunity to secure a quick passage to California. After fifteen 
minutes Mr. Cranston came downstairs and told me to fol- 
low him. We went upstairs and passed along a wide cor- 
ridor until we came to the end room, when he opened a door 
on the righthand side and escorted me into a tine large room 
with windows opening into the square that looked towards 
one of the large fountains, which was in full play. Facing 
the door was the side of a large, high bed, on which reclined 
Capt. Blanchard, whom I had not seen since the terrible 
day on which he received his wound. Near the head of the 
bed sat his wife, and as I entered the captain turned his 
head and looked at me, and his wife gazed at me with a look 
of reproach that caused me to feel like a guilty wretch. 

The mate withdrew and then the captain said to me in a 
severe tone, "What do you want?" I then explained that 
I had an opportunity to work my passage to San Francisco, 
and I had waited upon him to ask him to make me some 
concession for the balance of my passage money, and also 
to pay my wages for the two months' service. He answered 
severely, " You paid your passage to be taken to San Fran- 
cisco, and so did all the other passengers. Now I under- 
stand that several of them have taken passage from here in 
other vessels, and have already gone. Yet you are the only 
one that has approached me to ask me to refund a portion 
of the passage money. I will not refund you one dollar, for 
you are not entitled to it. There is the ship; you can stay 
on her until she reaches her destination, but if you want to 
leave her I can't prevent you. As to your wages, I will 



132 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

prove to you that I am an honorable gentleman; I will give 
you my promissory note for the sixty dollars of your wages, 
made payable when the ship arrives in San Francisco." As 
this was Hobson's choice, " take that or get nothing," I ac- 
cepted his offer. He desired his wife to draw up the note 
at his dictation, and he touched the pen when she signed 
his name. Then the lady handed it to me. I received it 
with an humble bow. 

When I looked at him and saw his pale, wan face and 
languid appearance, I wondered to myself how a man of ro- 
bust build and combative tendencies like him — one that had 
been the terror of sailors on board of ship — could, after all 
his triumphs, be brought so low by the hand of a shadow of 
a man who had just risen from a bed of an almost fatal 
tropical fever. Surely how true the old adage which says : 

" The mills of the gods grind slowly. 
But they grind exceeding fine." 

I quickly withdrew with a prayer in my heart that I might 
never meet the like of him again, and, thank God, 1 never 
have. 1 now hurried to the jetty and hired a boat and wont 
on board the ship to take away my chest. Here another 
surprise awaited me. The sailor Tom, who had been a 
prisoner on the guard-ship, had just been returned by the 
same boat that took him away, and a bill had been placed 
in the hands of the second mate that demanded payment for 
his detention and board, which would have to bo paid be- 
fore the ship would be allowed to leave port. I told Mr. 
Bryson that I had come to take my baggage and also to take 
leave of all hands on board. He congratulated me and said 
I was acting wisely and wished me a quick and safe voyage 
to the laud of gold. As I was about to leave the ship Tom 
came to me and asked me to let him go ashore with me in 
the boat, as he was fully determined to never sail another mile 
in that ship. I told him I would be only too glad to accom- 
modate him if he could arrange matters with Mr. Bryson, 
who was in charge of the ship. He told Mr. Bryson that he 
had served just four months from the first day he came on 
board in Philadelphia, and had been paid one month's 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 133 

wages the day before we left, and therefore he had three 
months' wages due to him which he wouhl donate to the 
captain wherewith to buy more rum, but as to continuing in 
the ship, he would not do it even if he was offered " a farm 
down east " at the end of the voyage. As Mr. Bryson could 
not enforce his authority, Tom bundled his bag and mat- 
tress into the boat, and taking a kindly leave of every man 
on board, we left the ship "Samson," never to set foot on 
her again. 

We reached the shore and engaged two Negroes to help 
us to take our baggage to the nearest sailor boarding house. 
We were directed to a house one street removed from the 
beach, to which place we took our baggage. It was kept by 
a Frenchman, who was a broad-shouldered, good-natured 
looking man. When we entered we found the front room to 
be the eating room and bar. On one side were four small 
tables; on the opposite side was the bar. He directed us to 
put our baggage in the nest room back, which we found was 
arranged on one side with berths, the same as on board of a 
ship, while on the opposite side was piled the boarders' 
baggage; the room back of this was the kitchen. It was 
now four o'clock, and the landlord told us that the dinner 
would be served from six until seven o'clock — so that, as we 
had two hours in which to look around, we sallied out. As 
we reached the street Tom opened his mind to me thus: 
"I'll tell you what I want to do; I want to get a chance to 
work my passage to California on the same ship that you 
have secured a berth in, and I want you to show the captain 
to me when he comes to the beach to go aboard, and I'll do 
the rest." Well, as this was a reasonable request I yielded, 
and we walked down towards the jetty and we ensconced our- 
selves where Tom could not be seen, and there watched for 
the gig of the " Urania." 

About half-past five o'clock I descried the tall, heavy 
form of Capt. Bucklaud approaching the landing. He was 
accompanied by a lady, who I afterwards learned was his wife, 
and a tall youth who was his son. Tom urged me to approach 
the captain, and in order to help him I stepped forward 



134 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

in his company. "We saluted the captain by doffing our hats 
and bidding him good afternoon. The captain recognized 
me, and I then introduced Tom to him. Tom then began 
with the persuasive eloquence that comes naturally to the 
people of his country, and told Capt. Bucklaud that having 
been in a disagreeable discussion with the captain of the ship 
in which he arrived, that he had voluntarily left her, and 
now would like to obtain the chance to work for his passage 
to San Francisco on the "Urania." Capt. Buckland an- 
swered my friend : " I have already engaged to give this man 
a passage," pointing to me, " and I don't think I can make 
room for another." " Well, captain," said Tom, "if you'll 
give me a chance, sir, you'll find that I am an able seaman, 
and I'll give ready and willing service during the voyage and 
when the ship arrives in San Francisco I'll stay by her and 
work until every ton of cargo is out of her." "Well," re- 
plied Capt. Buckland, "since you are so liberal with the 
offer of your service I will confer with my mate to-night and 
I'll give you my answer to-morrow morning when I come 
ashore." Tom thanked him profusely, and we withdrew, and 
the captain entered his gig and was pulled off. I compli- 
mented Tom for his persuasive eloquence and predicted that 
his effort would be successful. 

We now returned to the boarding house and seated our- 
selves at one of the little tables to eat our dinner. It con- 
sisted of pottage au legume, a well-seasoned ragout, a salad, 
good bread, a bottle of indifferent claret, and a cup of rich 
coffee. While we were eating Tom recounted his experience 
on board the guardship. He said for breakfast he was 
given a large pannican of good coffee sweetened with brown 
sugar, and a loaf of bread. For dinner they gave him a tin 
dish of stew, made of South American jerk-beef, potatoes, 
carrots and peppers, a loaf of bread, and a pannican of cof- 
fee. During the day he was allowed the freedom of the 
deck, but within certain limits. At night he, with other 
sailor prisoners, was locked in the hold of the guardship and 
gratings put over the hatclnvays. When the first Friday of 
his confinement arrived and he declined to eat meat at din- 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 135 

ner, the guard was so impressed by his conduct that he 
quickly brought him a fine dish of fresh fish from his own 
mess-table. Other sailors that were brought on board from 
time to time were taken on shore or discharged in a day or 
so, but he was detained longer than any one else, and all 
severity was relaxed in his case. He understood that the 
ship is held responsible for the cost of maintenance of a 
prisoner sent on board of the guardship. As nothing had 
been done towards prosecuting him the order came to the 
comandant to return him to the ship and to present the bill 
for the expenses incurred in his case. After we had finished 
our dinner, being very tired from the labor and excitement 
of the day, we retired to our respective berths, and I soon 
became oblivious to all things around me until five o'clock 
next morning. 

At five o'clock I arose, called Tom, and after washing 
ourselves we walked to the market place, where we saw 
a bewildering display of vegetables and fruit that excelled 
anything that I had ever seen before. Artichokes, beans, 
cucumbers, egg plants, lettuce, okra, sweet potatoes, yams 
and other kinds too numerous to speak of. Of fruit ban- 
anas, plantains, limes, oranges, guavas, pomegranates, and 
many, many others. Poultry in coops; fish dripping from 
the ocean. To sum it all up it was grand. It was easy to 
see that dame nature was lavish in her gifts to the people of 
this favored land. The fountain was throwing out its beau- 
tiful stream of water which fell back into the capacious 
granite basin, cooling the air, and which imparted energy 
and activity to every living creature within its scope. 

We returned to the boarding house, and at eight o'clock 
we were served with breakfast of mutton chops flavored with 
limes, fried potatoes, fried plantains, baker's rolls, and cof- 
fee. After breakfast Tom admonished the good French- 
man that if any one came to the house to inquire about him 
to say that he didn't know anything about him. We then 
went down to the landing and while Tom kept himself per 
due near by, I was on the lookout for the arrival of Capt. 
Buckland. 



136 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

About half-past nine o'clock I spied the captain's gig ap- 
proaching the landing and at once informed Tom of the fact. 
When the gig arrived at the jetty Capt. Bucklaud jumped 
out, followed by his son, and the two waited for Mrs. Buck- 
land to land. Two of the men from the boat followed the 
captain, presumably to collect the marketing for the day. 
We now neared the captain, and he soon spied us and mo- 
tioned us to advance. We hastened to him, hats in hand, 
and bade him good morning. He said to Tom that as he 
found that he was so anxious and also, apparently, capable, 
he had determined to take him. This anxiously desired 
answer so much pleased Tom that it set him in a tremor of 
joy and excitement. The captain bade us both to be on 
board by five o'clock the following morning as he would get 
under way early in order to take advantage of the land breeze 
to get out of the harbor. 

After we parted from the captain I said to Tom that as 
he desired seclusion while we remained in Eio, for fear of 
any more trouble with Capt, Blanchard, that the most fea- 
sible way was to go out to the public garden — which was 
something more than a mile from the city — and pass the day 
there viewing the grand collection of plants and flowers, 
fruits and trees of the tropical climes. He gladly agreed to 
my proposition and we started at once. As we were walk- 
ing along we came to a baker shop and there bought a loaf 
of bread, which I tied up in my bandana handkerchief. We 
walked along and passed by many magnificent villas having 
extensive grounds lined with shaded walks and flower plats. 
When we came in view of the public gardens we met a large 
number of Negresses going into the city, each one carrying 
a large round basket made of rushgrass, and it filled — some 
had oranges, while others had bananas. We bought bananas 
for one hundred reis — about ten cents American money — 
which afforded us a large supply for the day. 

We arrived at the gardens and were admitted by the 
Brazilian gatekeeper. He asked us what we had in our bun- 
dles, and we told him. He said we must leave them at the 
lodge as it was forbidden to take them into the garden. We 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 137 

at once resigned our bundles to him, and he told us to come 
for them whenever we desired and we could go out into the 
roadway and sit under the shade of the road trees and eat 
our merienda, as he called it. We found the public gardens 
to be a most instructive and edifying horticultural school. 
Here we saw growing in all its native luxuriance coffee, tea, 
nutmeg, allspice, pineapples, mangoes, guavas, and other 
tropical and semi-tropical fruits. Here we saw the India- 
rubber tree in all its native luxuriance. As to flowers — they 
were in variety beyond enumeration — suffice it to say, if you 
ever heard of a flower it could be found there, with one ex- 
ception: that was the little flower called the snowdrop. 
About noon we went to the lodge, took our bread and fruit 
and passed into the road, sat down under an umbrageous 
tree and ate our frugal luncheon, with a relish born of health- 
ful appetite. Tom expressed himself as being very happy 
with the prospect of going so soon to sea again, and still 
more happy at getting free from the " Samson " and Capt. 
Blanchard. 

As I shall, after this, have no occasion to refer to the ship 
"Samson," or to Capt. Blanchard again, I will here give a 
narration of what took place on the ship and what became of 
the captain. 

About six months after my arrival in San Francisco the 
ship "Samson" arrived, making the passage from Phila- 
delphia in three hundred and eighty-two days. The passen- 
gers told me that after the ship sailed from Eio de Janeiro 
that she became a veritable pandemonium. The captain 
quarreled with his crew. He quarreled with his passengers, 
even to fistic encounters: confusion reigned on the ship; the 
cargo was broached to obtain more liquor, and everything 
that could add to their misery took place. They were obliged 
to put into Valparaiso in order to replenish the ship's stores. 
And after the unprecedented long passage they were glad 
beyond the power of expression to place their feet on shore 
in the land of promise. 

In about eight months after my arrival, young Brainard 
arrived in San Francisco and came to see me. He said he 

a 



138 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

staid by his brother uutil his trial, conviction, and sentence 
of three years at the quarries — which penal establishment is 
down the harbor at one of the islands. The good lawyer 
exerted himself to the utmost, and by his exertions in repre- 
senting Capt. Blanchard, who was at the trial, in his true 
colors as a brutal and unscrupulous tyrant, he secured a 
sentence of comparatively short confinement. 

After his brother was taken to the quarries — by the ad- 
vice of the lawyer and by his aid — he begged an audience 
with the Emperor. When he was ushered into the royal 
presence, he threw himself upon his knees, at which the 
good and kind Emperor said to him : " Rise up, young man, 
don't kneel to me. Now tell me what your desire is ? " Then 
the youth recounted to the Emperor the history of all his 
mishaps from the time his father's throat was cut until his 
brother's trial and conviction. The Emperor said that it 
seemed that he had been the victim of a concatenation of 
unfortunate circumstances which had now culminated in 
branding his brother a felon. All that he could do would 
be to promise — in case he learned of his brother's good con- 
duct for the next six months — ^he would grant a pardon so 
that he again might enter into active life after a salutary les- 
son by a short imprisonment. He then withdrew from the 
royal presence, and arranged with the lawyer for his dues to 
be paid to his authorized agent in San Francisco. 

I obtained my goods from the ship, and paid the freight 
to the agents, Guildermeister, De Fremery & Co., and turned 
the captain's note in part payment. 

The very last I ever heard about Capt. Blanchard was 
through Tom, the sailor. A ship brought here the bulk of 
a forty-ton sloop, constructed in Williamsburg, Long Island. 
She was modeled, set up, and numbered in the frame and 
planks, and then taken apart, brought around Cape Horn, 
and put together in San Francisco, at the junction of First 
and Market streets — which was the margin of the bay at 
that time. She was named the "San Jose." She was one 
of three vessels that could reach the Alviso landing; and as 
Santa Clara valley supplied San Francisco with nearly all 



A Tale of Two Oceans, 139 

the oat hay, these three vessels were coining money. Well, 
Tom was on the sloop "San Jose," and she was lying at a 
little wharf called Howison wharf, at the foot of Sacramento 
street, when one afternoon he was accosted by a tall, cor- 
pulent man, whom he recognized as Capt. Blanchard. 

Said the captain: " My mnn, if you will take your yawl 
boat and scull me off to that ship yonder, I will pay you." 

Tom recognized Capt. Blanchard, and answered, " I will 
take you for nothing, and when I get you well out in the 
harbor, I'll throw you overboard to Davy Jones, who, I 
know, will give you a warm welcome." 

The captain was astounded with this rude reception, and 
replied: "What do you mean by such insolence to me, a 
stranger?" "No," said Tom, "you are not a stranger to 
me. I am Tom, the sailor who you put on board the guard- 
ship in Rio, because I wouldn't let you bullyrag me on board 
of your sliip. Now, we stand here to-day as equals, and 
you are a great overgrown bully, and if you'll stand up here 
like a man, I'll knock your blooming mug into the shape of 
an Admiral's cocked-hat, in the twinkling of a marling 
spike." Capt. Blanchard, just then, remembered that when 
a school boy he had read in his lesson that "discretion is 
th3 better part of valor," and, for the first time in his life, 
he thought it was an admirable maxim, and acted upon it 
forthwith, by walking rapidly to a part of the beach where 
he w^as less known and would be better served. 

About two weeks after this occurrence I saw in the " Alta 
California" newspaper that the ship "Samson," Capt. 
Blanchard, had sailed with passengers for Realejo in the 
Gulf of Tehuantepec, from whence they were going to cross 
the land to the Atlantic side and there take ship for their 
New England homes. I never heard again about Capt. 
Blanchard or his fortunes. 

About eighteen months afterwards a man came to my 
place of business one day and asked if I still knew him. I 
acknowledged that I did not. He then told me that he was 
the brother of young Brainard, and also told me that after 
be had served a period of six months at the penal quarries, 



140 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

the good Emperor had issued a pardon and he had been set 
free. He then shipped on a vessel that had put into Eio by 
stress of weather, and she becoming short of hands he had 
shipped in her and had just arrived in San Francisco. Afier 
three mouths in the northern mines around Nevada, Grass 
Valley and Eough and Ready, he returned to San Francisco 
and shipped in a vessel bound for Iquique, Peru, there to 
load with nitrate for Europe. 

This completes the list of all persons on the "Samson," 
with one exception, and he the best of them all — good old 
Bryson, who worked on the beach in lighters, taking cargoes 
from ships in the harbor and putting the goods in store ships 
which laid near the shore. And I hope and trust that he 
made his way to his family in Philadelphia with a light heart 
and a heavy purse. 

Now we will return to my story, or as the Frenchmen 
say, "revenons a nos moutons." 

Well, after we had eaten our luncheon of bread and 
bananas, we returned into the garden and there had a drink 
of pure water, for which Rio is noted. In the garden was 
a building, the upper portion of which was a museum con- 
taining zoological and ichthyological specimens as well as 
conchology. We ascended the stairs, which landed us at a 
balcony. We essayed to go into the museum, but while the 
attendant allowed me to enter he denied Tom the privilege. 
I begged to know the reason why he repelled my friend, and 
he answered that it was because my friend was not wearing 
a jacket. He then explained to me that while all persons 
were allowed to enter the garden, the regulations required 
that every man who entered the museum must wear a jacket. 
He said that the rule was vigorously enforced, and while he 
was sorry to deny my friend the privilege of entering the 
museum, the infraction of the rule would cost him his situ- 
ation. As my friend, Tom, had an inner shirt and an outer 
one called a jumper, the wearing of a jacket was considered 
superfluous. As it was Tom was not permitted to go in, so 
I declined to enter; we descended the stairs, and as it was 
four o'clock we started back towards the city. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 141 

As strange as the rule seemed to be, I afterwards ex- 
perienced somBthing just as inexplicable and fully as ridicu- 
lous while I was in Liverpool, England. One afternoon a 
party of us, including three ladies, were walking around in 
Liverpool, and we went to visit a place called Brown's Li- 
brary and Museum, which had been established by a wealthy 
merchant. We had been advised to do so by the landlord 
of the Victoria Hotel, as it was a place worthy of a visit, 
and as the admission was free. We presented ourselves at 
the entrance and as we were about to pass in the doorkeeper 
espied the parasols in the ladies' hands and at once de- 
manded that they should leave them in his custody while 
they remained in the building. Two of the ladies imme- 
diately yielded up their sunshades, but the third lady, who 
was more self-asserting than her American sisters, peremp- 
torily refused. The doorkeeper said that was one of the 
regulations of that institution and he must enforce it. The 
lady retorted that she had no intention of punching a hole 
through the pictures, nor of secreting any of the curiosities 
in her parasol, but while she would have to deny herself the 
pleasure of entering Brown's Library and Museum, she 
would have the satisfaction of keeping her parasol in her 
own hands. So that on account of the lady's obstinacy we 
were obliged to forego the pleasure of entering Brown's Li- 
brary and Museum. This episode proved the truth of the 
old adage, which says: 

" When a woman ■will, she will, you may depend on't; 
But when she won't, she won't, and that's an end on't." 

This shows that different countries have their own pecu- 
liar customs. If you go to Germany, you are obliged to re- 
port to the police authorities and tell them from whence you 
come, what is your business, what is your age and how long 
you propose to stay, and more than that, what your religion 
is. In all my travels I have not found any country that af- 
fords the freedom of action that equals that which is allowed 
in the United States. Here a man is allowed to pursue his 
bent freely, without trammel or restraint. 



142 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

As we approached the city after our day of seclusion in 
the garden, Tom became apprehensive of some trap being 
laid to detain him, but we arrived at our boarding-house 
unmolested and the landlord told Tom that there had not 
been any one to inquire about him. We took our dinner of 
gumbo soup, roast mutton and green peas, with watered 
claret and coflfee. After our long day we were tired enough 
to turn into our berths, as we would have to^rise at half-past 
four o'clock the next morning. Before we retired I asked 
the landlord how I could engage a Negro to help to take my 
chest to the landing so early the next morning, and he 
kindly told me that> he would have two Negroes at hand to 
do it at a small cost. 

I slept very lightly during the night from very gladness 
for having escaped from tbe long detention to which I knew 
the "Samson" would be subjected, and besides the un- 
pleasant associations that were connected with the ship and 
her captain. The next morning I arose at half-past four 
o'clock. I called Tom and we prepared ourselves to go 
aboard of the " Urania." The landlord kindly furnished us 
coffee and bread, and the two Negroes were at hand to help 
carry our baggage to the beach. We took leave of the good 
landlord and started for the beach with our baggage. We 
engaged a boat and arrived alongside the " Urania" at half- 
past five o'clock. I went up on deck and made myself known 
to the mate, who told me to get my dunnage on deck and 
then myself and Tom should turn to work and lend a hand 
to get the ship under way. I took my jacket off at once, 
and after getting our baggage on deck and having settled 
with the boatman, we at once placed ourselves at the mate's 
service. 

The first order that I received was to lay aloft and loose 
the maintopsail and overhaul the gear. I sprung up the 
main rigging with a vim that was born of delight at my de- 
liverance. The anchor had already been hove short and in 
a few minutes, everything being ready, the order was given 
to trip the anchor, the jib was hoisted and the ship began to 
swing. After the three topsails were set, the land breeze 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 143 

having sprung up, we had a fair wind right out of the har- 
bor. Every available sail was now set and the ship passed 
down the harbor, leaving Forts Santa Crnz and San Juan 
behind us. Here I was once more on my way to California 
after having been detained in Eio de Janeiro from December 
20th, 1849, to January 22d, 1850. 

After the ship was under way the order was passed along 
for the crew to take their breakfast. I had been so busy 
that I hadn't time to look about me. But when breakfast 
was ordered to be eaten some members of the crew came to 
Tom and myself and welcomed us on board the "Urania," 
and told us that they hoped that we would find that we had 
made a good change. We then went down into the fore- 
castle, and as I had neither tin pot for coflfee nor pan to eat 
out of, one of the crew kindly furnished me with them. Our 
first breakfast on board the "Urania" consisted of fried 
fresh beef, boiled potatoes, pilot bread and cofi'ee. After 
breakfast Tom and myself took our baggage and put it down 
into the forecastle, and as I had no mattress, and the berths 
being already occupied, two of the crew, who were in the 
dijfferent watches, very kindly agreed to occupy the same 
berth alternately, and the berth that was thereby vacated 
was assigned to Tom and myself. The chief mate sent for 
Tom and me and we went aft in obedience to his order. He 
told us that the ship was full of passengers, many of whom 
had never seen salt water before they came on board the 
ship in Boston, and therefore wore ignorant of the usages 
prevailing on board of a ship at sea. He admonished us 
against indulging in any familiarity or in any manner offer- 
ing any affront to any of them. He then told Tom that he 
would take him into his watch, and he would assign me to 
the second mate's watch. 

After our anchors were stowed and lashed and the chain 
lowered into the chain-locker, we were ordered to put on 
the chafing gear and to make everything snug. Whereas the 
ship that I had just left had thirty-one passengers, this one 
that I had just come aboard of seemed to have more than 
one hundred, and the deck appeared to be swarming with 



144 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

men. We were kept busy until twelve o'clock, at wliicli 
time we were knocked off from work for dinner. Our first 
dinner on board the " Urania" consisted of soup in which 
had been boiled a good portion of beef, with an abundance 
of vegetables; then we had boiled potatoes, plain and sweet, 
and hard bread. As I was very hungry and very light 
hearted I ate my fill with a thankful heart, because I was 
again on my journey to my destination. 

I will now describe the ship. The "Urania" was a six- 
hundred tons ship of modern model, sharp forward with 
flaring bow, flat on her floor, and a fine, clean run. She 
was a dry ship at sea, for when a sea struck her forward the 
spread of her bow was such that the spray was thrown out- 
ward. When she was close hauled on the wind she would 
go through the water, but she was so flat that she didn't 
hold on, but made a great deal of leeway; but when running 
free she went like a scared dog. She could knock the socks 
off of anything that she came alongside of. As a seaboat 
she was nothing to brag about. She was so flat on the floor 
that when the wind was abeam and a heavy sea running she 
would roll to leeward and then come back all standing with 
a slat and shock that would throw a man aloft right out of 
the rigging. When she was hove to in a gale she would 
drift to the leeward so fast that a pint of water couldn't get 
aboard of her. She was nearly new and as tight as a cup. 
So it will be seen that I was on board of a fine ship. 

The captain hailed from the right arm of the Old Bay 
State — a man of imposing mien, and, as I learned during 
the voyage, a gentleman of very few words. 

The chief mate, named Ingraham, from Rhode Island, 
kept himself on the quarter-deck and attended strictly to 
the sailing of the ship. 

The second mate, named Mulroony, was from Nova 
Scotia, and an active and very ambitious young man. 

On board of a ship, when topsails are to be reefed, the 
place of honor is the weather yardarm, and this position is 
always accorded by courtesy to the second mate; but when 
he is disliked some one of the young sailors will run up the 



A Tale of Two Oceans 145 

rigging for dear life, like a cat, and take the coveted position 
at the weather ear-ring to the discomfiture of the second 
mate; but Mr. Mulroony didn't allow any such outgeneral- 
ing, for he was always there himself. 

The crew of twelve men. I found, had been mostly in 
coasting vessels, and therefore were not square-riggers, with 
two or three exceptions. But they were pleasant and very 
agreeable companions in the forecastle. The steward and 
the cooks were of the most ordinary kind. 

There was a man on board whom they called the ship's 
doctor. The way this came about was thus: In fitting 
out a passenger ship for California a great stress was laid 
upon the sanitary needs of the passengers while they were 
on such a long voyac!;e of six months or upwards. For that 
reason the agent of passenger ships would, as an inducement 
to intending passengers, insert in their advertisements in 
the newspapers, " A competent physician is engaged to go 
on the ship to attend to the sanitary needs of the passen- 
gers." This announcement would, of course, have great 
weight in inducing persons to take passage on that ship, but 
the physician would often prove upon trial to have been an 
apothecary's clerk, and his knowledge of medicine would be 
limited to his ability to compound a prescription. Such 
an one, I understand, was the "Doctor" on board the 
"Urania." It seems that he had been a clerk with an 
apothecary in a neighboring town, and having been inspired 
with a desire to go to the land of gold, had embraced the 
chance offered to him to sign as "Doctor" on board the 
" Urania." Thus, with more than one hundred passengers 
and more than twenty men of the ship's crew, he found him- 
self with a numerous clientage, and therefore a man of im- 
portance. 

The passengers were of the true New England type, 
strong, active and intelligent. They were men that had 
been engaged in such industries as are known to New Eng- 
landers — traders, carpenters, stonecutters from Quincy, 
lumbermen, and a large number of small farmers, many of 
whom had passed beyond the meridian of the journey of 

12 



146 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

life on their small, comfortable farms, working indus- 
triously, living frugally but comfortably, and now, having 
been enticed by the seductive stories of the lavish wealth in 
California awaiting the simple effort of the adventurer to 
yield itself up into his hands, he had left his family to man- 
age the little farm while he sailed to California, from whence 
he would return with untold riches, when he would settle 
down to enjoy complete, unalloyed happiness, a condition 
that has never yet been attained by man. " Man never is 
but always to be blessed." 

The passengers were called the first cabin and second 
cabin passengers. The first cabin passengers were those in 
the cabin proper. The second cabin passengers — who com- 
posed a community of ninety or more persons — were located 
in the 'tween decks of the ship, which had been fitted up 
with berths and tables for that purpose. The forward house 
was divided into galley, forward part, and passengers' quar- 
ters in its after part. On the top of the forward house was 
an immense longboat, which was turned over and covered 
with a canvas jacket. Taking it altogether the ship — al- 
though somewhat crowded — was far superior to the one 
which I had left. 

At one o'clock all hands were turned out to work and 
make everything snug for sea. The chains were unshackled 
from the anchors and lowered into the chain lockers. The 
water casks were lashed, the fresh provisions stowed away, 
and the decks cleared up. 

Towards evening the breeze began to freshen and the 
ship moved ahead with good speed. She was so sharp for- 
ward that she didn't make the swash that attended the move- 
ment of the last ship. 

At five o'clock all hands were knocked off for supper, and 
from that time until eight bells, or eight o'clock, we had 
nothing more to do than attend to the sheets and braces. 

At eight bells the watches were set, and the second mate, 
into whose watch I had been assigned, had the first watch. 
The men of our watch drew straws as to who should take 
the first trick at the wheel, and it fell to me, as I had drawn 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 147 

the shortest straM\ I went aft and relieved the man at the 
wheel, and steered the ship for two hours, when I was re- 
lieved by one of my watch-mates. 

While I was at the wheel the second mate, Mr. Mul- 
roony, asked me how I came to be adrift in Kio ? I replied 
that I had not been adrift. I then told him that I had en- 
gaged my passage on the ship " Samson " to go to San Fran- 
cisco, and how, by a concatenation of unfortunate circum- 
stances, the ship was detained, and would probably con- 
tinue in Kio at least three months longer. As soon as he 
found that I was not a renegade adventurer, he treated me 
very kindly, and during the voyage had many conversations 
with me, which I will relate further on. 

As I went forward my watch-mate told me about the cap- 
tain and the mates; saying that the captain had been a suc- 
cessful whaleman who had retired on his well-earned com- 
petency, but had been lured by the marvelous stories of the 
newspapers about the gold fields of California, to go out 
there, like thousands of others, and add a few more thous- 
ands of dollars to his already ample store. 

The first mate, they told me, was a silent and strictly at- 
tentive man to his duties. 

The second mate, in whose watch we were, was a bustling, 
mercurial character, that was always on the jump, and al- 
ways on the go. 

I found that there were several other ladies on board be- 
sides the wife of the captain, who had left home and friends 
to accompany their husbands on the perilous journey to the 
newly acquired territory, there to found a new State, and 
thus to place another star in the azure field of our country's 

flag. 

" A union of seas and union of lands, 
A union of States none can sever; 
A union of hearts and union of hands, 

And the flag of our Union for ever, ever, ever; 
And the flag of our Union for ever." 

At eight bells the larboard watch was called, and we were 
relieved for the next four hours. When we went below I 



148 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

turned into the berth that had been assigned to Tom and 
myself, and slept a profound, restful sleep. 

At eight bells, or four o'clock, our watch was again called 
on deck, at which time the cooks also went on duty for the 
day. 

At five o'clock we were given a tin pannicken of cofTee 
each, with which we ate a cake of hard bread; after which 
we turned to work to wash the deck; and thus was the 
routine work from day to day, when the weather would per- 
mit, during the voyage. 

When we had been four days at sea we caught a large 
shark, a regular man-eater, that had been following the ship 
and showing its fins above water. This is always construed 
by sailors as an omen of death, as they are said to follow a 
ship on which some fatality is to occur. The weather now 
became squally, and thunder and lightning, with a copious 
fall of rain, kept us busy shortening sail. 

It was now January 28th, our position was lat. 27 11 S., 
long. 44 05 W. The weather had now cleared up, and the 
wind was nor'west, ofi the land. 

I discovered that the passengers were imbued with true 
religious fervor, which, no doubt, they had inherited from 
their puritan ancestors, being transmitted from the days of 
the landing on Plymouth Kock to the present time. 

" Aye! call it holy ground, 

The spot which first they trod; 
They left unstained what there they found. 
Freedom to worship God." 

They held religious meetings, in which each one related his 
spiritual aspirations, and delivered exhortations on the 
necessity of self-watchfulness to preserve each one from the 
commission of sin. 

January 29th the wind had so much increased that the 
order was given to "shorten sail." This went on until the 
topsails were double reefed, and she was put under reefed 
foresail, reefed mainsail and jib, foretopmast staysail and 
reefed spanker. When we were reefing the square sails Mr. 
Mulroony didn't allow his prestige to wane; for he was at 
the weather ear-ring every time. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 149 

We now heard that a young passenger in the second 
cabin was very sick from tropical fever. I learned that he 
had a brother on board who, with others of their fellow- 
passengers, were assiduously ministering to his wants. They 
came from the State of Maine, and had left their parents 
with light hearts and brilliant expectations. Now one of 
them was stricken down by a most malignant disease. Per- 
haps, at that very hour, when the absent son is suffering 
from the burning fever, the fond mother, sitting by her 
lonely fireside, may be repeating the mournful lines: 

" My darling boys now severed far from me, 
By many a weary league of land and sea." 

But such are the vicissitudes of life; the boy must leave the 
parental home to fight the battle of life, and to conquer or 
to fall, when it is so ordered by the divine Ruler. 

February 2d we were informed that the young invalid 
was rapidly sinking under the pressuie of the terrible sick- 
ness. While he would turn his eyes upon his brother and 
sympathizing comrades, a sigh would escape from his sad- 
dened breast: 

" Who to dumb forgetfulness a prey, 

This pleasing, anxious being, e'er resigned; 
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day. 
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind." 

On the following day the sad news spread over the ship 
that the poor young man had died ; had yielded up his spirit 
to Him who gave it. As one of his comrades repeated: 
" He has gone to that undiscovered country from whose 
bourne no traveler returns." 

The body of the dead man was at once brought on deck, 
his bedding thrown overboard, and the 'tween decks was 
fumigated, to prevent any after consequences. The crew 
were called to the main hatch, and the body was arranged 
for burial. On the following day the body was sewed in a 
canvas shroud and placed on boards, resting on the lee rail, 
with heavy weights attached. The ship was brought to the 
wind and hove to; the ensign was set at half-mast, and the 



150 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

ship's bell was tolled. All hands, with bared heads, assem- 
bled around the place of the dead, and the captain opened 
the burial service. "Friends, from the beginning even un- 
til now the mournful decree has gone forth into all the earth: 
' Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.' One genera- 
tion passeth away and another generation cometh; and there 
are few who can hide themselves from the solemn thought, I, 
too, must die, and the places which know me shall know me 
no more." 

After this exordium the choir of the religious meeting 
sang the following: 

" Why should we mourn departing friends, 
Or quake at death's alarm, 
'Tis but the voice that Jesus sends, 
To call his children home." 

When the singing was concluded, one of the passengers, 
a leader in the religious meetings, offered a solemn prayer 
to the Throne of Grace, beseeching that in that awful mo- 
ment the spirit of the departed one might be received into 
the mansions of the blest. After the service the body was 
committed to the mighty deep, amid the lamentations of 
surviving friends. The body sank into the ocean grave, there 
to rest until the last tramp shall sound. 

" No further seek his merits to disclose, 

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode; 
There they alike in trembling hope repose, 
The bosom of his Father and his God." 

When the last sad rites had been concluded the ship was 
filled away and was placed upon her course. 

February 8th, lat. 33 10 S., long. 50 02 W., we had been 
on soundings, hugging the coast, and were now in the lati- 
tude of the Kio de la Plata, where we were fearful that we 
might encounter the much dreaded pampero. We were not 
disappointed. We had the wind about west nor 'west, and 
were steering south sou 'west, with a stiff breeze, and all sail 
set; when all at once, without premonition, a blast struck 
the ship that sent her nearly on her beamends. It threw 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 151 

everything into confusion for a moment. The order was 
given to let go the halyards of the light sails; the courses 
were hauled up; the topsails lowered to the caps, and every- 
thing was taken in as quick as hands could move. The ship 
soon righted, and was put under close reefed topsails, fore- 
topmast staysail, and mizzen storm trysail. The wind was 
about west, and the ship could lay her course, and she 
scooted like a race horse towards Cape Horn. 

The gloom that was caused by the recent fatality began 
to wear off, and the cooling weather had allayed the appre- 
hensions which many had been laboring under; and there- 
fore, a more cheerful spirit seemed to animate every one on 
the ship. 

Our daily fare in the forecastle was passably good. As 
the captain had supplied a large stock of potatoes, we were 
enabled to have plenty of salt beef hash, as well as a good 
dish of lobscouse for breakfast. 

Lobscouse is a sea dish and is made of one onion cut 
and put into one gallon of water, a dozen potatoes peeled 
and cut into quarters, four cakes of navy bread soaked and 
broken up. Boil for half an hour. Cut up salt beef into 
small square pieces equal to one-third of the whole mass, 
and boil all again half an hour. Then add pepper to taste, 
and add, when about to be taken up, a half cupful of thick- 
ening. On a cold morning it is a dish " fit for the gods!" 
Just try it. 

We frequently had served to us cornmeal mush with mo- 
lasses. This is a homely dish, but it is mighty satisfying in 
a cold climate. 

The captain now thought of steering the ship between 
Staten Land and the Coast of Patagonia. 

February 18th we sighted Staten Land, lat. 54 42 S., long. 
63 43 W. The second mate informed us that Capt. Buck- 
land was intending to sail between the island and the main- 
land of Patagonia — and this passage is called the Straits of 
La Maire — thereby making a large gain in distance. We 
approached Staten Land within about twelve miles distance. 
As we were sailing along with a light breeze, a shore bird 



152 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

came off and alighted on the main royal yardarm, which to 
us seemed a harbinger of good luck. The island is moun- 
tainous, and showed peaks of perpetual snow. 

As night approached the wind hauled to the southward 
and we were obliged to change our course, and passed out- 
side of 8taten Land and between that and Falkland Islands, 
lat. 51 40 S., long. 57 49 W. During the night the wind 
was light southerly, and in the morning we were about 
twenty miles easterly from Staten Land. Towards noon the 
wind hauled out to the northward, which gave us a fair wind 
for Cape Horn, lat. 55 58 S., long. 57 49 W. 

As we were approaching Cape Horn we sighted many 
vessels going in the same direction to reach that objective 
point. These ships had sailed from different Eastern ports, 
and all going to round Cape Horn. Some of the captains 
believed in making an eastern passage, that is, to go as far 
as the longitude of the Azores Islands, long. 31 00 W., then 
take the trade winds and make a slant for the Patagonian 
coast, while other captains preferred to take the western 
passage and just clear Cape Saint Eoque. Some of them 
cross the equator in long. 35 00 W., while other ships cross 
the equator in long. 25 00 W., hundreds of miles apart, and 
still these captains are endeavoring to reach Cape Horn in 
the quickest way that each thinks is possible. After they 
have rounded Cape Horn and have reached their destined 
port they don't quarrel about the route that each took to 
accomplish the desired result. Here is a lesson that some 
of our devout religious teachers might study with benefit to 
themselves and edification to their flocks. How can they 
expect those who hear them say from the pulpit, " Be not 
contentious; on the contrary be humble and submissive, as 
our divine teacher was submissive." This is good doctrine, 
but in order to make good teaching effective the teacher 
himself should first set the example. Why should the 
teacher, in speaking to his flock, attack in the most acri- 
monious manner all other teachers who don't teach just as 
he teaches ? He thereby creates a spirit of contention which 
is not conducive to religious edification. If there are little 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 153 

differences in religious belief, let us not be constantly in- 
veighing against those that differ from us, but practice a 
spirit of conciliation and amity as the captains do that steer 
their ships for Cape Horn but pursue a somewhat different 
course to reach the same end. And at the end of the voyage 
of life may we hope and trust that it may be said to each 
and every one of us, " Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant." 

" Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
But trust him for his grace." 

We were now experiencing pretty cold weather and after 
having been in the tropics so long it affected us quite sen- 
sibly. We asked the second mate for permission to make 
coffee each night at seven bells, that is, at half-past eleven, 
as then after the watch on deck had taken their coffee there 
still would be a supply for the other watch which came on 
deck at eight bells or midnight. He readily granted our 
request and we went to the galley and made the coffee. On 
the second night, the larboard watch having the first watch 
on that night, prepared the coffee, and when the starboard 
watch came on deck we took our share. Well, on this night 
a sheet of gingerbread had been left in the galley by the 
cook, and some one of the sailors had abstracted it and di- 
vided it among his mates. On the next night the galley 
was found to have been locked. We informed the second 
mate and he lodged a complaint with the captain. The cap- 
tain sent for the steward and ordered him to have the galley 
left unlocked every night until the ship got around Cape 
Horn. The steward, as a matter of course, had the cook to 
leave the galley unlocked. 

Three nights after the second opening of the galley it 
was our first watch on deck; we started the fire in the 
caboose and made the coffee. One of our watch found a 
sheet of gingerbread and appropriated it. We had been or- 
dered not to touch anything in the galley but the coffee. 
The cake was broken and passed around. I was offered a 
piece, which I took and examined by the lamp and found 
that it contained particles that sparkled in the light. I 

13 



154 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

pointed out the peculiar appearance to my watchmates and 
declined to eat, and some others of the watch also refused 
to eat the queer looking cake. But three men and the sec- 
ond mate ate heartily of the sweet bread. At twelve o'clock, 
midnight, the larboard watch was called; we were relieved 
and went below. About two bells, one o'clock, I was 
awakened by one of my watchmates groaning and moaning. 
In five minutes thereafter another was attacked in the same 
way, and then the third one. The ones who were not af- 
fected were the ones who had not eaten of the gingerbread. 
The chief mate, whose watch it was, came to the forecastle 
gangway and asked what was the matter. He was told that 
the men appeared to be very sick. He ordered one of the 
men to go aft and call the "Doctor." In the meantime the 
sick men had been attacked with violent purging and vom- 
iting. When the messenger returned forward he brought the 
news that the second mate had been attacked in a similar 
manner. The affair had now become so serious that Capt. 
Buckland was called. The "Doctor" came forward and 
pronounced it a case of indigestion from having eaten too 
much, and said that the men would be all right by morning. 
But by morning the men and the second mate were much 
worse than they were when first attacked. When the pas- 
sengers began to come on deck and heard of what had oc- 
curred they began to discuss the matter in a very serious 
manner. As the "Doctor" was the person that had charge 
of the medicine chest, and the men who had eaten of the 
cake were the only ones affected, the question very naturally 
arose whether it was that the cake had been doctored. One 
of the men of the crew went aft to the quarter deck and 
boldly asked the " Doctor " if he had put any drug into that 
cake. Capt. Buckland felt his dignity as captain of the ship 
insulted, and having before had a conference with the 
"Doctor," answered for him and said that what had been 
done was done by his order. This put quite a different face 
upon the affair. In the meantime it had leaked out that the 
"Doctor" had acknowledged to the captain that he had, 
with the connivance of the steward, put some emetic powder 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 155 

in the cake in order to punish the sailors for purloining food 
from the galley to which they had no right. But Capt. 
Buckland soon learned that he had made a most serious mis- 
take in assuming the responsibility for the nefarious act of 
the "Doctor." All that day the men were very sick. The 
violent purging and vomiting had relieved them from the se- 
vere pains, yet they were very sick. The passengers felt 
that while they had a man in their midst who was capable of 
perpetrating such an atrocious act, and that man was sus- 
tained by the captain, that no man on board, neither pas- 
senger nor sailor, was safe from the dangerous schemes of 
the secret enemy. 

At last the passengers met in convention, elected a chair- 
man, secretary and sergeant-at-arms. After reviewing the 
situation the men of cool judgment and moderate views ad- 
vised the arrest and confinement of the "Doctor," while the 
younger and more noisy portion demanded that the culprit 
be tried at once, and if proven guilty of conspiring to poison 
the crew, that he be hanged at once or thrown overboard. 
These hot blooded, fiery young fellows reminded me of 
Shakespeare's description of young manhood: 

" Then a soldier; full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard; 
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel; 
Seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon's mouth." 

The moderate counsel prevailed and the " Doctor " was 
immediately arrested by the sergeant-at-arms. 

How often have I been reminded in after years, when I 
saw the first vigilance committee of 1852, and the one of 
1856, that men, when the emergency arises, can quickly 
adopt measures for self-protection. 

The captain was called upon to furnish handcuffs and the 
"Doctor" was manacled and confined to his room under 
guard. The victims of the diabolical scheme were invalided 
for about ten days, after which time they returned to duty. 
As to the "Doctor," he was kept in confinement for several 
days, after which time, as the captain had taken charge of 
the ship's medicine chest, and therefore had rendered the 



156 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

" Doctor" unable to perpetrate any further mischief, he was 
released from confinement and allowed his freedom. But he 
never, during the balance of the voyage, ventured to go for- 
ward of the mainmast. 

During all these exciting events I was surprised to no- 
tice that the steward, who to my mind was far from being 
blameless, was not called to account for the part he had 
enacted, nor was he deposed from the important position of 
being steward of the ship. Whatever secret influence he 
possessed, it was sufficient to save him from being taken to 
account for his participation in the affair. 

The second mate, Mr. Mulroony, was very depressed and 
melancholy for a time, but after awhile his buoyancy of 
spirits asserted itself and he became as active as before the 
unpleasant episode. We, the sailors, continued to make our 
coffee, for the weather was very severe and cold, but we 
never after searched the galley for any more tidbits, as the 
severe lesson was very effective. 

February 20th, by noon observation our position was 
lat. 55 07 south, long. 64 03 west. The weather was very 
cold and the sky was overcast with heavy dark clouds. At 
four p. M. the captain ordered that the royal yards be sent 
down on deck. This was an act of precaution that showed 
that he was preparing for much worse weather and more of 
it. The wind was now west-southwest, and we were plung- 
ing along under double-reefed topsails and reefed courses, 
jib and foretopmast staysail. The sea from the westward 
was very heavy, but the captain kept m11 the sail on the ship 
that she could bear, as she was laying her course. By six 
p. M. the royal yards had been sent down on deck, and then 
the order came to rig in the flying-jibboom. We rigged this 
In as far as the head stays allowed and lashed it to the jib- 
boom, and tautened the head stays and guys and lashed the 
sail snug. 

It was now eight bells and we were allowed to eat our 
supper. After supper the larboard watch turned in, as we 
had the first watch on deck. The night did not set in be- 
fore nine p. m. in these high latitudes at this time of the 
year. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 157 

At four bells, ten p. M., it was my trick at the wlieel. 
The ship was plunging and pitching in the heavy sea, but 
she was as dry as a chip on deck and steered very easy. 

At six bells, eleven o'clock, everything around was en- 
veloped in a dark haze, and the wind was whistling through 
the rigging. Every few moments the ship would give a lurch 
to leeward which would cause the second mate, who was 
walking on the weather side of the quarter-deck, to grasp 
the mizzen rigging, if he missed which he would slide 
against the trunk of the cabin with a thump. We had our 
starboard tacks aboard and were heading south by west. 
All at once the man on the lookout sung out in thundering 
tones, "Sail ho!" and before another word was said there 
appeared on our weather beam an immense black body that 
was rushing and bearing right down upon us at lightning 
speed and with a thundering whir. 

The second mate called out, "Hard up your helm; ring 
the ship's bell! " One of the watch — who had been reading 
Capt. Marry att's novel, "The Phautom Ship" — cried out, in 
his terror, " Tis the Flying Dutchman! " One of the watch 
grabbed the cook's axe, and began to pound the anchor. 
The mate and captain rushed on deck, but by the time they 
had reached the deck there was nothing to be seen. For 
what we saw was like a flash of lightning. It was a ship un- 
der topsails and courses, steering east nor'east, right before 
wind, and just passed so near our weather quarter that they 
could have tossed a biscuit on board of our ship, but was 
now lost in the gloom of the night. This gave us a great 
fright, but it was no fault of onrs. We were on the look- 
out, but our ship had no side-lights, for at that time they 
were not used, unless sailing up or down a river. 

Capt. Buckland instructed the second mate to keep a 
sharp lookout, as we were directly in the track of vessels 
going east around Cape Horn from the Western Coast of 
America and from Australia. 

Our time had been so much occupied by the passing 
ship that we had to do without our midnight coflfee. 

Some of the passengers were so much disturbed by this 



158 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

affair that they passed the balance of the night on deck. 
The weather was now boisterous and disagreeable, with fre- 
quent showers of rain. 

After leaving Rio the crew were kept on deck all after- 
noons for three days while everything was made snug for 
sea. After which time we were allowed " watch and watch," 
and whatever was to be done about deck or aloft was per- 
formed by the watch that was on deck, unless in a case of 
emergency, when "all hands on deck" was called out; at 
which times we were required to work until the watch was 
ordered below. This gave us ample leisure to sleep, to read, 
and to mend our clothes. 

The potatoes were now exhausted, and we were obliged 
to fall back on bread scouse, and Indian meal mush for 
breakfast; but we had good beef, and real corn-fed pork, 
which, with plenty of beans, codfish and rice, we fared very 
well in the forecastle. 

February 22d, " Washington's Birthday," lat. 50 23 S., 
long. 70 03 W., wind still west to west sou'west, but more 
moderate. Shook the reefs out of the topsails and courses 
and set the main staysail and spanker. Steering south by 
west close hauled. The ship sailed well but making large 
leeway. 

The second mate said the captain would run the ship to 
59 south and then 'bout ship and go on the other tack. To- 
day, when the haze cleared off, sighted a ship to the wind- 
ward steering on the wind, like ourselves, but while we out- 
sailed her she could out- weather us, as she kept her grip 
better. 

Our ship was sometimes surrounded by right whales, as 
their locality is in high latitudes, where the temperature of 
the water is cold; as the sperm whale is seen in low lati- 
tudes where the temperature of the water is warm. 

There were two young sailors in the crew who had been 
whaling, and when they would see a whale rise up to the 
surface of the water and spout out a volume of water, they 
would sing out, "There she blows!" Then they would say: 
"Ah! boys, I wish we had a cedar lapstreak whaleboat with 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 159 

whaling gear; how I'd like to fasten on to one of them fel- 
lers and then just have him tow the boat through the water, 
like a streak of greased lightning. I tell you its fine fun," 
But I thought it was far better in its omission than it would 
be in its observance. This desire, expressed by the- quon- 
dam whaleman, proved the truth of the old saying, "that 
when a person has once been in an occupation that was 
fraught with danger that when the same conditions present 
themselves afterwards that the impulse to rush into the fray 
becomes irresistible." However, as we had no lapstreak 
whaleboat nor whaling gear on board, my shipmate could 
not indulge the bent of his inclination. 

February 25th, lat. 59 06 S., long. 75 11 W. The wind 
had hauled to the southward, it now being southwest. At 
four bells, 2 p. m., we went about in stays, and the wind 
having somewhat moderated, the topgallantsails were set, 
and the maintopmast staysails. The ship was close hauled, 
heading about west northwest, and as Cape Horn was in lat. 
55 58, the captain hoped to pass it with a wide berth. 

To-day there was a school of porpoises around the ship, 
and after throwing the harpoon several times, by one of the 
crew, one of these denizens of the briny deep was captured 
and hauled on deck. After the blubber was stripped off the 
meat was cut into slices, parboiled, and then wiped dry and 
fried in pork fat. The meat was quite palatable in this way 
but not equal to what it is when made into minced balls. 

February 26th. To-day we had a change of wind. It 
backed around from southwest to south and then to south- 
east, giving us a free wind, steering west. We now began 
to make longitude, having Cape Horn well under our lee. 
On the twenty-sixth day of February we caught an albatross 
with a baited hook, which was towing on the surface of the 
sea. When it was hauled on board and the hook taken from 
its bill, it was allowed to walk around on deck, as it could 
not rise from the deck. The albatross is an immense bird 
with a large body, and a spread of wings from eight to four- 
teen feet. This was a very large bird. One of the passen- 
gers took a strip of sheet copper and engraved upon it the 



160 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

name of the ship, date and latitude. He then bored a hole 
through one end of the sheet and passed a strong leather 
thong through the same. He then passed it around the up- 
per joint of the wing of the bird and sewed the ends to- 
gether. Then the bird could fly, and he could eat without 
any detriment to his movement. After this was done he 
was taken up from the deck and allowed to fly away. 

Now the- sequel of this affair was most singular. "When 
we arrived in San Francisco and had been in port about ten 
days, what was our surprise to see in the " Boston Journal," 
steamer edition, a paragraph relating the circumstance of 
the capture of the albatross, by a ship that afterwards 
touched at Valparaiso, and had sent the news to Panama by 
the English mail steamer, whence it was taken to New Tork 
by the Pacific mail steamer, conveying the news to anxious 
friends that the voyagers were safe on the ocean. This re- 
markable incident clearly comes within the category of cases 
in which it is said that, " truth is stranger than fiction." 

We were now in the Pacific Ocean — the great Pacific — 
the peaceful, quiet, calm ocean. Although it was not so 
quiet, just then, on that 29th day of February, 1850, lat. 56 
02 S., and long. 77 10 W., still we felt certain as we pro- 
gressed northerly and left the " Southern Cross" behind us, 
that the weather would be improved by the lowering of our 
latitude. Every one on board the ship now began to show 
a brighter face, with one exception — that was the "Doctor." 
I cannot say that he showed a brighter face, because he did 
not show his face, as he was still in "durance vile." Our 
course was now northerly; and it was learned in the fore- 
castle that the captain had made up his mind to touch at the 
Island of Juan Fernandez, made historic and impressed 
deeply in the mind of almost every boy in America and in 
England by the simple and romantic story of Alexander 
Selkirk, or better known as " Robinson Crusoe." That was 
the first book of travel which I ever read, and, when reading 
it, how I longed and wished that I could have been on that 
romantic island, dressed in goat skins, cultivating the little 
garden, training the kids and watching the ocean's birds 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 161 

that landed there to hatch their young. And now, so many 
years afterwards, I was to see that island. 

I remember that after I had read the little book I loaned 
it to an old lady of the neighborhood where I lived, and when 
she returned it to me, after having read it, she shed tears of 
sympathy for poor Crusoe, because of his sufferings on that 
lonely island in mid-ocean. 

We were now ordered to send up the royal yards and to 
run out the flying jib-boom. The wind had again hauled 
back to the south'ard and eastward, and as our course was 
now northward and westward we had a free wind. "We now 
began to enjoy the benefits of pleasant weather. The pas- 
sengers now began to come on deck and gather in groups for 
conversation. 

At this time the feeling between the people of the free 
and slave States was becoming very rancorous, arising en- 
tirely from the question of freedom versus slavery. The 
people of the northern States deprecated the condition of 
our country, arising from the existence of slavery in our 
nation; while the people of the southern States insisted upon 
its maintenance, and compelled the national government to 
enact laws for its protection and perpetuation in the new 
territories acquired by purchase or conquest. 

Even in the Territory of California up to the day of its 
admission as a State of the Union, the southern masters had 
brought many of their slaves for the purpose of having them 
labor in the mines, thereby to enrich their masters. But 
the masters very soon learned that they had made a very 
serious mistake, for the sons of the heroes of Bunker Hill 
gave them to understand that vassal or slave would not be 
allowed to be held in bondage by a master, and breathe the 
same air that a free-born American did. When the owners 
of human slaves were convinced of this fact, they, by force 
of circumstances, were obliged to give up the contest and 
retire to the State from whence they came. 

I had seen in Charleston, South Carolina, negro cooks and 
stewards, that came there on board of ships that had come 
to load with cotton for Europe, taken out of the ship by the 

U 



162 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

sheriff of the county and placed in jail and there detained 
until the ship was ready to go to sea. Then they would be 
returned to the ship, and a bill would be presented to the 
captain for their maintenance during their enforced seclu- 
sion. This, they claimed, was done to prevent the free Ne- 
groes of the North from infusing into the minds of the slaves 
the mischievous sentiment of human freedom that was so 
prevalent in the Northern States. 

The National Government was so much dominated over 
by the southern slave holders that when complaints were 
sent to "Washington by the merchants of the North, they 
were thrown into the waste basket to be swept out the fol- 
lowing morning by the Negro slave of the Secretary of the 
Treasury. 

The passengers on board the " Urania " were men who 
had obtained their education in that great diffuser of knowl- 
edge, the "District School," which they had attended for 
three months in each year, commencing the first Monday 
after Thanksgiving Day, and continuing in session for three 
months in each year. The balance of nine months they were 
obliged to work in order that the family pot might be kept 
boiling. In the school they were taught reading, writing, 
arithmetic, geography and grammar. After the age of 
twenty-one years a male scholar was not allowed in the dis- 
trict school. 

If a rich man desired a higher education for his son, 
there were the academies and the colleges open to them, but 
the taxpayer was not required to pay for the rich man's 
son to obtain that higher education, which he could not 
afford to give to his own son. 

All the passengers were constant readers, and I was in- 
formed that they were well supplied with instructive books. 
There were two men among the number that particularly at- 
tracted my attention. One was named Hiram Bardell and 
the other Zeno Scudder. They possessed a quadrant and a 
Bowditch's Navigator between them, and they could be seen 
every clear day on the topgallant forecastle taking a noon- 
day observation of the sun. After the altitude of the sun 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 163 

was obtained at meridian, they would get the Bowditch's 
Navigator and work out the latitude. Then they reckoned 
out the longitude by dead reckoning. They ascertained the 
course steered the previous twenty-four hours and the dis- 
tance sailed; then they made due allowance for leeway and 
course of the curreni. By one o'clock each afternoon they 
would have their bulletin ready for the information of their 
fellow-passengers as to the position of the ship and her dis- 
tance from San Francisco. 

March 2d. The wind has changed to the northeast, with 
a moderate breeze. Our position by observation at noon 
was lat. 53 05 S., long. 76 15 W. Wo are now standing with 
our larboard tacks aboard and heading along about E. by S. 
to E. S. E. To-day our amateur navigators were asked as 
to the position of the ship, and Mr. Bardell promptly an- 
swered, "lat. 57 18 south, long. 77 45 west." Well, this 
was thought pretty close for midocean, but it would not do 
to sail a ship by in approaching the land. However, it occu- 
pied their time and served to beguile the time that would 
otherwise hang heavy on their hands. 

The passengers, some of whom have boats on board the 
ship, are now talking about what they will do when they ar- 
rive in San Francisco. It seems to be their intention to 
start directly for the mining region and commence the accu- 
mulation of their fortune at once. 

There was one man in the forecastle whose name was 
Cyrenus Eldridge, but he was called Uncle Cy. He was a 
man considerably advanced in years and very good natured 
and quiet. He, it seems, was an old and valued acquaint- 
ance of the captain, and for that reason had been shipped 
on board the " Urania " as an able seaman, but he was not 
required to go aloft. He became quite communicative to 
me and revealed to me his condition. He said that his home 
was on the shores of Buzzard's Bay, Cape Cod; that he 
owned a modest little farm of a few acres, which was sit- 
uated on the borders of the bay where there was an indenta- 
tion which made a nice safe harbor for his boat. He raised 
all the potatoes, corn, turnips, pumpkins and other vegeta- 



164 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

bles thtit he needed; besides he had a few apple and quince 
trees, which supplied a reasonable quantity of fruit. In the 
summer time he could take his little boat and go out on the 
bay and catch the tautog, scuppaug and bluefish; in the win- 
ter he could take his spear and spear all the eels that his 
family could use. But there was an incubus hanging upon 
him and his little family in the shape of a six hundred dol- 
lars mortgage. He told me that if he could in the space of 
one or two years accomplish the feat of discharging that 
mortgage, it would place him in a condition that would be 
superior to that of the great Daniel Webster on his Marsh- 
field farm. And now I pen this with the liveliest satisfac- 
tion, that within one year after we arrived in California 
Uncle Cy called upon me in Sun Francisco and informed me 
that he had accomplished the purpose of his tedious voyage 
around Cape Horn — had already sent the money by Adams 
& Co.'s Express to discharge the mortgage, and also had 
enough with him to pay his way home and have something 
left after he arrived there. He left San Francisco in a ship 
bound to Realejo, in the Gulf of Tehauntepec, to cross from 
thence to the Atlantic side, and from there to Boston. Good 
Cyrenus Eldridge, it is my sincere hope that he has realized 
his most sanguine expectations. 

The wind continued northeast for two days, and as we 
could not Iciy closer than east by south, we found ourselves 
in lat. 54 51 S., long. 65 30 W. The weather was still sharp 
and chilly, but the midnight coffee had now been stopped, 
and the "Doctor" would never get another chance at the 
crew. 

March 8th the wind hauled around to southeast, giving 
us a fair wind, and we shaped our course north-northwest 
for Juan Fernandez. "Hurrah!" said the passengers. 
"Hurrah!" said the crew. As the atmosphere was clear 
and the barometer indicated good weather, the captain or- 
dered that every stitch of canvas be put on the ship. We 
ran out the topmast and to'gallant stun'sail booms and set 
the sails; the mainsail was hauled up and the two lower 
stun'sails set. As the "Urania" had no swinging booms, 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 165 

the lower stun'sails were not as efifective as they would have 
been in the old style, for a lower stun'sail when not kept in 
place by a boom may roll up into a scroll like a sheet of 
paper. When every rag that could draw was put on to her 
I think the " Urania " reeled off about fourteen knots. She 
was a wonderfully fast sailer with the wind aft. 

We now began to lower our latitude rapidly, and the pas- 
sengers began to furbish up their guns so as to be ready to 
bring down a score or two of the famous goats that were left 
on Juan Fernandez by Robinson Crusoe. 

March 12th, lat. 40 10 S., long. 71 05 W. The wind is 
steady, southeast, and the second mate says that we will 
reach Juan Fernandez in three days' time if the wind holds 
as now. The passengers are anticipating a pleasure season 
on shore when we reach Juan Fernandez. 

March 15th. We are now nearing the romantic island; 
our position at 12 meridian was 34 42 S. , long. 76 03 W. 
The captain ordered the second mate to send a man aloft to 
keep a lookout for land, as Juan Fernandez has very high, 
mountainous peaks. At eight bells in the evening the cap- 
tain ordered all the light sails to be takeu in, the mainsail 
to be hauled up and furled, and put the ship under topsails, 
foresail and jib. 

The next morning we put all sail on the ship and away 
she went, steering northwest with the wind dead aft. As 
soon as it was daylight a man was ordered aloft to look out 
for land or sail. 

At seven bells our watch was called and the cook gave 
us for breakfast bread scouse, fried pancakes and coffee. 
At eight o'clock our watch went on duty, and I was ordered 
to go aloft and relieve the man on the lookout. After I had 
relieved the man of the larboard watch I settled myself on 
the foretopmast crosstrees and scanned the horizon care- 
fully, in the hope that I might have the honor of sighting 
the land; but for the two hours that I was on the lookout 
neither land nor sail did I see. 

At four bells I was relieved and descended to the deck. 
The passengers gathered around me and asked whether I 



166 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

had seen the land, and when I answered in the negative they 
turned from me disappointed. Every passenger seemed to 
be on deck, and it was with some difficulty that the crew 
could pass around in obedience to orders given from the 
quarter-deck. 

About six bells the lookout aloft proclaimed the joyful 
news, "Land ho! land ho!" "Where away?" asked the 
captain. "Three points on the larboard bow, sir." "Very 
well: come down." "Aye, aye, sir," and the lookout man 
came on deck. 

" Put your helm to starboard and bring her up two 
points," said the captain. "Aye, aye, sir," responded the 
man at the wheel. The excitement among the passengers 
was wonderful to behold. They seemed to feel that they 
were approaching towards the end of their journey, although 
they were still thousands of miles away from it, but the idea 
of having reached Juan Fernandez made the balance of the 
journey seem easy. 

At 2 p. M., having reached what appeared to us to be 
quite near the island, Capt. Buckland ordered the first mate 
to launch the yawl boat and have her manned, and to go and 
reconnoiter the island for the purpose of finding a suitable 
place for an anchorage. We got the yawl boat into the 
water, after bringing the ship up into the wind, and four of 
the crew were ordered into the boat, Tom and myself be- 
ing among them. The chief mate took charge of the boat, 
taking two of the after-cabin passengers with him for com- 
pany. We pulled away from the ship and steered for the 
shore, under the supposition that it was about five miles dis- 
tant. After we had rowed about a mile from the ship we 
discovered that the boat was leaking very copiously, and we, 
the sailors, had all Ave could do to pull the boat, and as the 
mate had to steer her, the two passengers had no alternative 
but to bail out the water or let the boat sink. When they 
found that it was either bail or sink, they took hold and 
worked for dear life. Well, we rowed, and we rowed, and 
we rowed, and the longer we rowed the further the land 
seemed to be from us. Well, after a long and tedious trip 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 167 

we neared the land, but we found that the sea was breaking 
furiously all along the shore, and that the coast was bold and 
perpendicular; we rowed along from the eastern point and 
went westerly until we arrived at a very blufif promontory, 
which we passed, and came in view of an indentation that 
formed quite a bay, with a shelving, sandy beach. The mate 
exclaimed, "Eureka! We have found it." We learned 
afterwards that this roadstead was known as Cumberland 
Bay. 

After a long pu]l, which had nearly exhausted us, and 
about used up the two passengers, we made a landing, find- 
ing ourselves safe on shore, drenched through and through 
with the spray, and entirely without water or food. And it 
was now past 7 o'clock by the mate's watch. 

After we had beached our boat and drawn her well up on 
the sand, we began to look around us. We first looked to- 
wards our ship which we saw was well in the ofiing, and we 
had learned, to our cost, thab instead of being five miles from 
shore when we started that we had been at least fifteen miles 
distant from it. We looked up inland, and there, to our de- 
light, we saw what appeared to be three diminutive houses, 
from one of which we could see smoke issuing. 

As we walked up towards the little settlement we could 
see one or two men, who had probably spied us, coming to- 
wards us. As they were approaching us I could see that one 
of them was a pale, sharp-faced man, with carroty hair, while 
the other was a swarthy, corpulent man, with black hair and 
large, dark eyes, that looked kindly upon us. The carroty 
haired man gave the usual Yankee salutation, "How de 
doo," to which the mate made the characteristic reply, 
"Pretty well, I thank you. " The swarthy man inclined his 
head condescendingly, and they both advanced and met us. 
The mate shook hands with them both, and entered into 
conversation with carrot-head. He told him that the ship 
in the offing was the ship " Urania," from Boston, with 
passengers to the number of more than one hundred; that 
the two gentleman, then present, were of the number, while 
the others, pointing to us, were members of the crew. The 



168 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

Islander introduced himself as being a New England whale- 
man, who had been landed there from the ship " Gideon 
Howland," of New Bedford, he being at the time suffering 
from the scurvy, caused by the excessive use of salt food. 
He introduced his companion as being Don Eusebio Domin- 
go de Echandea, Gobernador de Juan Fernandez. When 
we learned the title of the gentleman, who was standing be- 
fore us, we at once raised our hats, to which salutation he 
courteously responded. The mate then made known the ob- 
ject of this visit to be to obtain a supply of water and wood 
sufficient to enable us to complete our voyage to San Fran- 
cisco. To his inquiries satisfactory answers were given; 
but, as it was out of the question to return to the ship that 
night, the Yankee whaleman offered us a shelter for the night 
in one of the small houses. The mate gladly accepted the 
kind offer, as the ship was out of sight, owing to the dark- 
ness. We secured the boat for the night, and then we fol- 
lowed our entertainer to the little hut, where we were per- 
mitted to build a fire on the earth floor. As I said before, 
we had not taken either water or food with us — which was 
very imprudent, and very short-sighted on the part of the 
captain, as he had been a whaleman and knew the necessity 
of providing for such contingencies as getting benighted at 
sea in a boat. But the whaleman told us that a number of 
vessels that were bound to California had touched there to 
obtain wood and water, and in return for such service as he 
had rendered they had rewarded him with a generous sup- 
ply of hard bread and other articles, from the land of civil- 
ization. He kindly gave us some of his store of hard bread 
and also some dried fish. We ate of his bounty, and started 
a fire, and made ourselves a bed, of rushes and grass, for 
the night; while the mate and his two friends were supplied 
with goat skins. During the night the wind increased to a 
gale, and blew around the house of sticks and rushes with 
a mournful sound. 

As we were worn out with our severe labor of the day, 
we could exclaim, with Sancho Panza, "Blessings on the 
man who invented sleep." As we all fell asleep, and the fire 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 169 

had burned out, when we awoke towards morning we were 
chilled to the very marrow — as some of us had not even 
taken a jacket along. When we aroused up and went out- 
side the hut we found that the wind was blowing at a speed 
of forty miles an hour, and it was attended with a drizzling 
rain. As the weather was thick we couldn't see the ship in 
the offing, and therefore we had to bide our time to get 
aboard again. In this dilemma the mate obtained a couple 
of Ushing lines, and as the whaleman told him that small 
fish were plentiful a short distance from the shore, he had 
us launch the boat, and he and his two passenger friends got 
iato the boat, with two of my shipmates to row the boat, 
and he told myself and my other shipmate to gather some 
branches of wood and obtain some kind of a kettle from our 
benefactors wherein to cook the fish, if they caught any. 
We gathered the wood and started the fire. I then ap- 
proached Don Eusebio, the Governor, and asked him, in his 
own language, the favor of a loan of a vessel that would be 
suitable to cook the fish. As this was the first time that I 
had spoken, he was surprised to hear me address him in his 
own language. He took me up to his house and gave me an 
iron pot, also some salt, and became quite communicative. 
He told me that he was the son of a Spaniard that had come 
to Chili from Santander, Spain, and had married and settled 
in Valparaiso, where he, the son, was born. While he was 
yet a small boy his father removed his family to Santiago, 
where he was appointed to a government position. His 
father had died while he was yet a boy, and for that reason 
he had not obtained that preferment which his father, if liv- 
ing, could easily have obtained for him. After he was mar- 
ried he had enjoyed a clerkship in a government office until 
his predecessor, as Governor of Juan Fernandez, had asked 
to be relieved, on account of his growing children, whom 
he desired to have educated, and for that reason he wished 
to resign, and return to the mainland. 

At this juncture, as the government did not desire to leave 
the island entirely unprotected, for fear that some other na- 
tion might be tempted to take possession for strategic pur- 

15 



170 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

poses, the position had been offered to him at a salary that 
was small but still adequate to supply all his moderate wants. 
He said that the government sent a vessel once every year 
with supplies, and his family and one man, which the gov- 
ernment allowed, comprised the force that held the island. 
He then showed me his commission, which was headed, 
"Don Eusebio Domingo de Echandea, Goberuador de Juan 
Fernandez, bajo el gobierno de Chile." I told him that I 
had been in Santauder, where his father was born; that I went 
there from New Orleans, in a vessel loaded with leaf tobacco. 
I told him that Sautander was near Santofia, a naval station 
on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, and an extensive naval 
arsenal. When I proved to him that I knew of what I was 
speaking, he declared that had he known it when I landed 
he would have furnished me with the softest goat skins and 
a warm corner in his own house. He then called to his 
daughter Casilda and introduced me as a person who had 
been in the very place where her grandfather was born. 
Casilda was about fifteen years of age, and appeared to be 
very unsophisticated and childish. She neither saluted me 
nor even spoke to me. Soon the carroty-headed whaleman 
came to where v/e stood and gave me such a withering look 
that I was glad to return to my work and set the pot to boil- 
ing. About nine o'clock the boat, which had been within 
hailing distance all the time, came ashore, and we found 
that the fishing party had met with good success. 

As the water was already boiling ai d seasoned with salt, 
we soon cleaned the fish and boiled them. On the mate's 
promise to return him tenfold the whaleman gave us a few 
more cakes of hard bread, and we had a grand breakfast of 
boiled fish and bread. 

About eleven o'clock the wind moderated and the haze 
lighted. We soon obtained a sight of the ship a long dis- 
tance to the northward of the island. As the wind was fair 
for us to reach her, the mate ordered the boat to be launched 
and away we went, the mate promising the whaleman and 
the Governor that we would soon return with the ship. We 
now had the advantage of a fair wind and the sea right after 
us, with plenty of daylight ahead. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 171 

We arrived on board the ship about two o'clock, and as 
soon as the boat was hoisted out of the water the boat's crew 
was allowed to go below aud have their dinner. After we 
had gone down into the forecastle our shipmates told us that 
when the passengers found that we didn't return by dark, 
they advised and desired the captain to put the ship before 
the wind, and let the boat's crew follow on the next ship that 
might touch at the island. This the captain flatly refused to 
do, but put the ship under close-reefed topsails and stood 
off and on until the weather cleared up the next day. 

It took us until noon the next day to reach the anchorage. 
As soon as we anchored in fifteen fathoms of water, rocky 
bottom, all hands were put to work to prepare rafts of casks 
to take ashore and fill with fresh water, which we found to 
be good and abundant, running in cascades from the mount- 
ains. The way we prepared our raft of casks was thus: A 
cask was taken and a quarter hoop was started at each end; 
under each of these hoops was placed a small becket on each 
side and then the hoop w&s driven back to its place. Through 
these beckets was passed a strong rope on six or eight 
casks — a rope on each side of the casks. This makes a strong 
raft. Then the boat takes it in tow and it is taken ashore 
to the beach, where each cask is filled and bunged tight. 
When all the casks in the raft are filled the raft is towed 
back to the ship and each cask is hooked on to in its turn 
with canhooks or else put in sliugs and hoisted on deck. The 
crew were kept busy in getting the water and the wood on 
board. 

The island we found to be a veritable paradise. It is of 
a lava formation and shows that it was in some remote age 
thrown up by some terrible convulsion of nature out of the 
bowels of the earth, until it reached an altitude of at least 
five thousand feet in places, and the peaks looked as symmet- 
rical and shapely as church spires. It was divided into 
alcoves, with high, precipitous promontories for sides, and 
it required the use of a boat to go from one recess to the 
next one. 

The place of anchorage was in front of a charming sylvan 



172 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 



spot of about a mile and a half frontage, facing the ocean 
and reaching back by a gentle rise about three-quarters of a 
mile to the foot of inaccessible cliffs. This little valley was 
a real paradise. It was bounded by umbrageous trees as 
well as stocked with fruii trees of many varieties. Peaches 
were at this time in their full maturity; quinces so large 
that they astonished the farmers who had emigrated from the 
bleak northern hemisphere; wild oats in the fullness of har- 
vest time; figs to be had for the picking. In a word it was 
a most beautiful oasis in midocean. 

Of animals there were wild horses, cattle, hogs, goats 
and dogs. One of these dogs was brought here on board of 
another ship by a gentlemcin named Tarbett, and he named 
him Juan. He was captured when young. He was fawn- 
colored, and was gentle and very affectionate to his master. 
Although all these animals were there, not a cow nor a horse 
had Governor Echandea in domesticity; they were all wild 
and unconfined. 




*f'*?ff"- 








- , , ,T.t'iiitiii!n:;iu)« 

JUAN FERNANDEZ. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 173 

Juan Fernandez is in lat. 33 37 south and long. 78 43 
west. It is distant about three hundred and seventy miles 
from Chile, to which republic it belongs. The climate is 
similar to that of South Carolina, excepting the intense 
South Carolina heat of midsummer. It was at one time a 
penal colony, where prisoners were kept in banishment for a 
period. The caves wherein they lived were still to be seen, 
and it was from this circumstance that so many horses and 
cattle were there, as when the garrison and the prisoners 
were withdrawn the few horses and cattle were left behind 
and since that time had increased wonderfully in that genial 
climate. 

Our passengers formed themselves into gunning parties 
and sallied forth with anticipations of successful sport, but 
they returned disappointed, for when they sighted the game 
it was on some inaccessible cliff, so that, although it was 
killed, it would fall into an abyss from whence it could not 
be recovered. Although the hunters returned to the ship 
with empty game bags, such was not the case with the pas- 
sengers who went out in the boat to the fishing ground, a 
cable length from the ship. Their catching of the fish was 
limited only by the capacity of the cooks to fry them. We 
had fried fish at every meal while we were in the harbor. 
After such a dearth of fresh food the supply of abundance 
of fish and fruit was truly a delicious feast. 

After two days of incessant labor, at noon on the third 
day the wood and the water were got on board, and then the 
captain told the mate to give the crew a half holiday until 
six P. M., at which time he would weigh anchor. 

As Governor Echandea had told us that the cave of Eob- 
in&on Crusoe was about one and a half miles to the west- 
ward, in a small cove that could be easily reached by a boat, 
but would take a day to go by land, we asked the mate for 
permission to use one of the boats for the purpose. We 
accordingly took the boat, and four of us rowed around the 
promontory into the cove of which I had read so much in 
the delightful story of Robinson Crusoe. The little cove is 
a repetition of the one where the ship was laying, but very 



174 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

diminutive in size. The cave was a few rods from the mar- 
gin of the sea, on an elevation opening towards the sea, and 
from which the recluse hud a full view, and a visual sweep 
of the ocean. 

It was here that the poor shipwrecked mariner passed 
four lonely years of his adventurous life. It was here that 
he trained his goats, watched the seafowls and the wild 
beasts that roamed around on the precipitous cliffs. It was 
on this very spot that he had cultivated his little garden. 
The poor fellow! I could almost picture him as standing be- 
fore me, with his unique garments of goat skins, looking, 
with longing eyes, out upon the broad expanse of ocean to, 
perchance, discover some friendly sail, that might be di- 
rected hitherward by a kind Providence, to rescue the poor 
shipwrecked mariner. 

"While contemplating this beautiful glade, interspersed 
with peach and quince trees, the pathetic lines of Crusoe's 
poem occurred to my mind: 

" I'm monarch of all I survey, 

My riglit there is none to dispute, 
From the center, all round to the sea, 
I'm lord of the fowl and the brute. 

O! solitude where are the charms. 

That sages have seen in thy face. 
Better dwell in the midst of alarms, 

Than reign in this horrible place. 

I'm out of humanity's reach, 

I must finish my journey alone. 
Never hear the sweet music of speech, 

I start at the sound of my own. 

The wild fowl has flown to her nest. 
The wild beast has gone to his lair. 

Even here there's a season of rest, 
And I must to my cabin repair. 

There's mercy in every place. 

And mercy encouraging thought 
Gives even affliction a grace, 

And reconciles man to his lot." 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 175 

As we had no timepiece with us the lengthening shadows of 
the mountain peaks admonished us that it was time to return 
to the ship. We launched our boat, in which act we were 
well baptized by the waters of Crusoe's cove. We made our 
way back to the ship and were in time to turn to work and 
get the ship under way. The chain was hove short, all the 
sails were loosed, the bunts were dropped and sails sheeted 
home, the yards mast-beaded, the anchor was tripped, and 
away we went on the home-stretch for San Francisco. As 
we squared away for the equator the order was given to put 
all sail on the ship. By eight o'clock p. m. we had every 
drawing sail on the ship, topgallant stun 'sails and all, and 
she was reeling it off at about ten knots an hour. 

At eight bells the watches were set, and the watch on 
deck was kept busy lashing the water casks. At eight bells, 
when the other watch came on deck, they had to take up the 
work where the other watch left it. And the work was con- 
tinued until all the water casks were lashed, the wood stowed, 
and the immense gathering of fruit packed away, and every- 
thing made ship-shape again. 

After we had left the island everybody on board showed 
an unusual buoyancy of spirits; they felt that the worst part 
of the tedious journey was over and that they would soon 
reach the goal of their ambition, there to engage in the de- 
lightful occupation of filling their pouches with glittering, 
shining gold. 

After the passengers had recovered from the fatigue of 
their three days tramping and climbiDg on the island, they 
began to utilize their great store of fruits: peach pies, peach 
puddings, and stewed quinces were their daily fare, all pre- 
pared by themselves, as the cooks were not equal to the task 
of doing more than the most ordinary cooking, while we, the 
sailors, were well satisfied to eat the peaches in their natural 
condition. 

March 26th, lat. 29 45 S., long. 83 06 W., wind south- 
east. We have now steady trade-winds and very pleasant 
weather; everything that can pull a pound is on the ship — 
stun'sails on both sides, with steady breeze right aft. 



176 A Tale of T^YO Oceans. 

I think that the officers of the ship are throwing off that 
reserve which is deemed essential to the maintenance of 
good discipline on board of a ship. I have noticed this 
same disposition on board of other ships. When we were 
near the end of the voyage the officers would show more ur- 
banity of manner towards the crew, although there was no 
laxity of necessary dicipline. As the nights were very 
pleasant, and the wind being dead aft, it left us nothing to 
do but to walk the deck. At this time, Mr. Mulroony, the 
second mate, threw off the reserve that appertained to his 
station, and unbosomed himself to me as to his plans and 
purposes. He told me that he was a native of Nova Scotia, 
and had served his apprenticeship on board of a vessel of 
his native province, and after he was out of his time had 
been promoted to the position of second mate of a ship. 
The captain, under whom he had served his time, urged him 
to stick by him, and that he would advance him to the posi- 
tion of chief mate as soon he could pass the necessary ex- 
amination. But he said that he had become tired of going 
voyage after voyage to Liverpool with a ship loaded with 
deals. He was inspired by an ambition to see other parts 
of the world, and for that reason he had left his ship in 
Saint Johns, New Brunswick, and had gone to Boston, 
where, with the recommendation from the owners and cap- 
tain of the ship on which he had sailed so long, he expe- 
rienced no difficulty in obtaining a berth as the second mate 
of the ship "Vancouver," in the China trade. He had made 
one voyage on the ship to Hongkong, and would have con- 
tinued in the ship if the California fever had not broken out, 
which induced him to ship on the " Urania" to go to Cali- 
fornia, and try his fortune in that golden land. He said that 
he had stipulated with the captain and owners that he would 
leave the ship when she arrived in San Francisco, from 
whence he intended to go the mines, and, if success should 
attend his efforts, he would return to his native land, Nova 
Scotia, where there was a sweet little cherub awaiting his 
return, and then they would be married and settle down in 
a cosy little nook, a short distance inside of Sambro light- 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 177 

house, where he could keep his boat and catch codfish and 
haddock, set his lobster pot, and be as grand as the gover- 
nor of the Province. "Why," said he, "I found, after I 
came up to Boston, that the Yankees think that America be- 
gins at Old Quoddy Head, at the mouth of the Saint Croix 
river — that divides the United States from New Brunswick — 
and they think it ends in the Gulf of Mexico; bul I can tell 
you that they are laboring under a delusion. While it is 
admitted, all the world over, that the people of the United 
States are a great people — that they produce fine mechanics, 
great inventors, and very enterprising merchants — they must 
understand that all the balance of the world is not standing 
still. There are the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova 
Scotia; they build and turn out as fine modeled and well 
built vessels as can be seen in the port of Liverpool to- 
day. I have seen the ' Ocean Monarch,' built by Donald Mac 
Kay, in East Boston. She was a splendid specimen of naval 
architecture, but I have seen just as fine in Saint Johns, 
New Brunswick." 

March 24th. We now have a continuous steady breeze, 
and going along at about seven knots per hour. As we have 
watch and watch and have only to sway up the yards by the 
halyard, every twenty-four hours, it seems to us like a con- 
tinuous holiday. 

Every night watch on deck, unless it is my trick at the 
wheel or my lookout forward, the second mate comes to the 
waist of the ship as soon as the passengers go below, and 
resumes his conversation. 

In speaking of ship building, he said: "The Yankees 
built a topsail schooner in Eastport, Maine, to run as a 
packet to Boston. She was a beauty, and a very fast sailer, 
and she was called the 'Echo.' They challenged the world 
to excel her. Well, without the blowing of trumpets, the 
* Blue Noses,' as. they call us of the Provinces, went to work 
and built a little full-rigged brig for the Boston trade, and 
called her the 'Boston.' She runs between Halifax and 
Boston. She looked around for the famous 'Echo.' At 
last they met, off the Island of Grand Mennau, both bound 

16 



178 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

to Bostou; wind southwest dead ahead. The race began. 
It was in the summer, and the wind on the New England 
coast during the summer season blows about southwest, 
with the regularity of a trade wind. 

"The captain of each vessel realized that it wasn't sim- 
ply a race between two fast sailing vessels, but it was be- 
tween New England shipbuilders and the shipbuilders of 
the British Provinces. Well, sir, the ' Boston,' although a 
square-rigger, and having to beat to windward, right in the 
wind's eye, arrived in Boston eight hours before the 'Echo,' 
thereby proving to Brother Jonathan that while he is mak- 
ing long strides in ship building that the rest of the world 
is not standing still. " 

I was impressed by the remarks of the second mate. 
When a good man is speaking of his native country it 
brings out the best attributes that are in his nature. And 
that can truthfully be said of the people that are born under 
the English flag — in Gibralter, Malta, or the West Indies it 
is the same. 

I remember that the Negroes on the Island of Barbadoes 
had a saying, " Queen Victoria, never fear so long as Bar- 
badoes stand strong." 

March 30th, lat. 17 31 S., long. 93 12 W. The wind 
during the past four days has been light and our headway 
has been correspondingly slow. The weather is now be- 
coming very warm and the crew has been kept busy sewing 
windsails to be placed in the hatchways to cool the 'tween 
decks. The quarter-deck is protected by an awning, and as 
the wind is light, the ladies seat themselves on the trunk of 
the cabin and sew and knit just as if they were at home. 

The contrast between the ship off Cape Horn on Febru- 
ary 25th and her appearance March 30th is really remarka- 
ble, showing what a change in the temperature it makes 
between 59 06 south latitude and 17 31. Whereas February 
25th was intensely cold and unpleasant, to-day, March 30th, 
the weather is so warm that the passengers in the 'tween- 
decks cabin have to be furnished with windsails to promote 
their comfort. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 179 

The passengers are now engaged in the pleasant task of 
examining their boats, of which there are several on board. 
Others are washing and mending their clothes in true do- 
mestic style, thereby showing their capacity to "rough it" 
when they reach the mines. I observe that nearly all the 
passengers show a degree of self-reliance that augurs well 
for their success in a new country. 

April 4th, lat. 10 16 south, long. 94 03 west. Since we 
sailed from Juan Fernandez we have had an uninterrupted 
spell of pleasant weather, thereby verifying the fact that the 
Pacific Ocean is rightly named, as the word "Pacific" 
signifies peaceful, calm, tranquil, and such has been the 
state of the Pacific Ocean since we sailed from Juan Fer- 
nandez. 

It reminded me of the old lady who took passage on a 
packet sloop that ran from Boston to Yarmouth Port, Cape 
Cod. As on that day the wind was fair, the crew had noth- 
ing particular to do during the passage of sixty miles dis- 
tance. After she had arrived at her friend's home, the 
subject of a seafaring life was discussed, as nearly every 
man and boy on the Cape went to sea for a living. This 
lady, after her brief experience on the packet sloop, ex- 
pressed her opinion thus: "I don't think it a hard life to 
go to sea, for I see that the sailors have nothing more to do 
than to sit around the deck and have the wind blow them 
along." 

Such was our actual experience. During this pleasant 
weather, in the daytime, the crew was kept at work tarring 
the rigging, scraping and slushing the masts, and, as the 
sea was smooth, there were stagings slung over the side of 
the ship and we were set to work to paint ship. 

In the evening Mr. Mulroony would resume his conver- 
sation on his favorite topic. "Now then," he would say, 
"about originality. Whoever thought of such a thing as 
taking logs and squaring their sides and shaping them into 
the form of a sailing craft, and navigating them across the 
Atlantic Ocean ? You may think it was the Yankee, but I 
say it was our people;. it was they that first originated the 



180 A Tale or Two Oceans. 

idea and carried it out to a successful issue by sailing a raft 
of timber across the Atlantic Ocean to Liverpool. Why," 
said he, " it is only lately that the Yankees have paid much 
attention to naval architecture. They used to buy ships 
from England, France, and other countries of Europe." 

I interposed by saying that I had read in history that the 
first ship built in America was as early as the year 1616, and 
that it was in New York, and she was called " The Restless. " 

"Well," he replied, "I can't dispute that, as I don't 
know about it; but what is one ship? England had shijis 
sailing to every part of the world long before that period; 
and to-day for one ship that you see that flies the American 
flag, you'll see five of England's winged messengers of trade 
penetrating every corner of the commercial world, and wher- 
ever you find an English merchantman you may depend on 
it that an English man-of-war is not far ofi", to protect that 
merchant ship, and that is what promotes England's com- 
mercial supremacy. I can tell you that England is the 
greatest nation in the world to foster trade and commerce, 
and the consequence is that England is the money center of 
the world." 

I came to the conclusion that the progenitors of Mr. 
Mulroony must have been of those that left the American 
Colonies and settled in the British Provinces of North 
America, where they continued their allegiance to their be- 
loved severeign. King George the Third, and their descend- 
ant, who was now on board the " Urania," was imbued with 
the sentiments of his progenitors. 

April 11th, lat. 3 06 south, long. 103 25 west. We are 
now near the equatorial line. To-day one of the crew asked 
Mr. Bardell, the amateur navigator, what was the position 
of the ship on this day by his reckoning. He answered that 
we were then in lat. 30 minutes south, right directly on the 
equatorial line, and long. 79 10 west. 

The sailor asked Mr. Mulroony, the second mate, if he 
would do him the favor of pricking off that position on the 
chart by the divider. About one hour afterwards the second 
mate informed the questioner that he had examined the 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 181 

chart, and by measurement it placed the ship near the city 
of Quito, a city on the Andes Mountains about ten thousand 
feet above the ocean level. When Mr. Bardell was told of 
this he was not the least disconcerted, but answered that he 
had, when a boy, made a summer voyage to the Grand Bank, 
codfisbing, as cook of a schooner, and the captain used to 
tell him to serve the largest doughnut and fullest turnover 
pie to the man that was high line at that time; and now, 
according to the same rule, he himself ought to be served 
with the best of everything on the cabin table. 

After this denouement the quadrant was never brought 
on deck, and Mr. Scudder and Mr. Bardell turned their at- 
tention to sewing and the making of a tent of cotton drilling 
to shelter them in the mining regions. We had now lost the 
trade wind and were in the variables. 

The second mate had now discontinued his night watch 
dissertations, as his duties required all his time. What with 
trimming sails, conning the helm and watching the varia- 
tions in the wind and weather, he was kept on the qui vive 
during every watch after this until we arrived in San Fran- 
cisco, after which time I never saw him again. 

The wind was now light and baffling, veering all round 
the compass, and the heat was oppressive. The effect upon 
the passengers was quite apparent; dullness and lassitude 
seemed to pervade the whole ship. 

April 14th, lat. 2 08 north, long. 104 16 west. The wind 
is very light, while the heat is very oppressive. To-day an 
affair happened which at most any other time would have 
been attended with fatal results. 

Man Falls Overboakd. 

There was among the passengers a gentleman somewhat 
advanced in years, and accompanied by two of his sons, 
young and active men. I was informed that he was from 
some town in Worcester county, Mass., and his name was 
Bout well. He was a gentleman of education, and OAvned a 
fine farm and was in affluent circumstances at home. But 
like thousands of other men Avho never seem to know when 



182 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

they have enough of this world's goods, he had left his home 
to participate in the general scramble for wealth. He was 
a studious man, and for that reason I had only seen him on 
deck three or four times from the time that I came on board 
the ship in Rio de Janeiro. On this day it was our forenoon 
watch on deck. We were engaged in our work of cleaning 
and painting, when, about six bells, the fearful cry rang out 
loud, "Man overboard! man overboard!" As the passen- 
gers were most all on deck at the time the confusion that 
ensued was embarrassing. The crew jumped for the star- 
board quarter boat and soon had it in the water. As the 
wind was very light and the sea very smooth, the crew soon 
got away from the ship and grasped the drowning man be- 
fore he sunk for the last time, and took him in the boat and 
returned to the ship. All this time the ship had been 
brought up to the wind and the yards hove aback. After 
the rescued man had been taken on deck he proved to be 
Mr. Eoutwell. 

It seems that he had been reading the Holy Bible with 
unusual earnestness and had conceived in his mind that he 
was inspired by faith equal to that of Abraham when he 
went up into the mountain to offer his son Isaac as a sacri- 
fice. On that day he put his faith to a practical test, and 
the result was a lamentable failure, for when he essayed to 
walk on the water he soon found himself sinking, the same 
as any other man that didn't possess any extraordinary de- 
gree of sanctity. 

After this voluntary bath in the broad Pacific, Capt. 
Buckland enjoined on his two sons the absolute necessity of 
guarding their father incessantly until the ship should ar- 
rive in San Francisco. 

I think I did not see him again while I was on board the 
ship. This occurrence caused considerable talk among the 
passengers about the cupidity of men who already possess 
an abundance of wealth and yet are ready to risk their 
precious necks in the scramble for more. 

April 15th, lat. 9 45 north, long. 112 OG west. The wind 
is very light and the weather is hot. The windsails leading 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 183 

below the hatches give a mouthful of air to the passengers, 
but as we have nothing of that kind leading down into the 
forecastle it is as hot as an oven down there. 

As the weather is pleasant many of the passengers have 
brought up their blankets and picked out spots on top of 
the water casks where they pass the night. 

April 20th. A young man named Conkling, a native of 
Pittsfield, Mass., has become so seriously affected by the 
heat that he has become a simpleton and incapable of taking 
care of himself. It seems that he had become so careless 
about himself that his fellow-passengers hustled him out of 
the 'tween decks and forced him on deck. When the cap- 
tain investigated the matter he ordered some of the crew to 
take the young man in hand and to care for him. When the 
men were putting clean clothes upon the poor, simple, good- 
natured fellow, they found a belt upon his person which was 
opened in the presence of the captain and was found to con- 
tain five hundred dollars in gold coin, in five and ten dollar 
pieces. This money was turned over to the captain's 'care, 
to be returned to the young man when the ship arrived in 
San Francisco. Clean washing and clean clothes had a very 
beneficial effect upon him and in a measure restored his 
faculties. 

As I have said before the " Urania" carried a very large 
longboat turned over on top of the forward house, and the 
bow of the boat projected over the house some two feet to 
the foremast, which enabled a person to go up under the 
boat, where he had ample room. 

By direction of the mate what dunnage was stowed away 
under the longboat was taken out and a clean bed with clean 
bedding was arranged by the crew, which became the state- 
room of Mr. Conkling until the ship arrived in San Fran- 
cisco. 

April 22d. We now have the wind south-southwest and 
everything is on the ship, and the sea being as smooth as a 
millpond she is making latitude very rapidly. By observa- 
tion at noon our latitude was 15 03 north, long. 119 25 west. 
We now have the prospect of arriving at our port of destina- 



184 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

tion in a short time, and the passengers are now preparing 
to invade an unknown country, where they expect to en- 
counter Indians and wild beasts. 

The deck is looking like a veritable arsenal. Guns, pis- 
tols, bowie-knives, powder flasks, and other death-dealing 
apparatus that a man may need in a new, unexplored coun- 
try, can now be seen in the process of being cleaned and 
prepared for action when needed. 

Young Conkling, in his new quarters under the longboat, 
is quite contented and is gaining in flesh. He is constantly 
around the sailors, seeming to look upon them as his only 
friends. The case of this young man is really a sad one, 
and as I heard it, it excited my commiseration. was in- 
formed that he was the youngest of three brothers m Berk- 
shire county, Mass., who had inherited a patrimony of a fine 
farm and a large tract of wood land near Pittsfield. They 
labored on their farm during the summer and chopped wood 
during the winter, which they marketed in the neighboring 
town the ensuing fall. And thus they would have remained 
satisfied but for the California fever which swept all New 
England like a whirlwind. The brothers resolved to make 
a venture by sending the youngest brother, as did the an- 
cient Israelites, "to spy out the land." The bountiful 
manner in which the young man had been fitted out gave 
proof of how well they had performed their task and their 
ability to do so. Their impatience to become suddenly very 
rich is proof that man is always reaching for that which is 
unattainable on earth — that is, perfect, unalloyed felicity. 

April 25th, lat. 21 15 north, long. 114 05 west. We are 
now looking for and longing for the day which we now think 
is near, when we shall be set free from this ship, the same 
as a lot of imprisoned birds are released from an aviary. 
We sight vessels now nearly every day. We now can see 
that we are n earing the focus of our hopes and anticipations. 

April 28th, lat. 30 12 north, long. 119 06 west. We are 
now reaching for our long expected central point, San Fran- 
cisco, in lat. 37 47 55 north, long. 122 24 52 west. 

We now have a spanking breeze abeam, and this ship 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 185 

shows her best speed with the wind abeam. Every man on 
board appears to labor under unusual excitement, and all 
seem to be nervous and eager to know how fast the ship is 
going through the water. 

At eight bells the mate sung out, "Heave the log!" 
" Aye, aye, sir," answered the men, and while one of them 
fetched the logline twenty or more of the passengers came 
trooping aft to ascertain the speed of the ship. When the 
line had been run out, the mate announced the speed as 
" nine knots." 

As I had the first trick at the wheel during the first watch 
that night Capt. Buckland, who was walking on the weather 
side ofi the quarter-deck, approached the binnacle, looked 
into the compass, and as he stood there he addressed me for 
the first time since I had been on board the ship: " Well, 
young man, how do you like the change in ships that you 
have made?" "I like it very much, sir, I thank you; and 
furthermore, sir, I shall never forget your kindness in hav- 
ing given me a berth on board this ship." "As to that," 
said he, ' ' by what my officers tell me, I think that you have 
earned your passage; but I advise you in the future not to 
put yourself in a position in a foreign port, nor in any other 
port, where you will have to beg your passage. Had it not 
been that your acquaintance had recommended you as being 
a respectable man, I would not have allowed you to come 
on board my ship, for my experience has taught me to be- 
ware of beach-combers in South American ports." Sy 
speaking thus of beach-combers, Capt. Buckland was al- 
luding to abandoned, dissolute sailors, that either run 
away or are driven away from ships, particularly whale- 
ships, because they are evil-disposed mischief breeders, and 
are called beach-combers because while they are ashore 
they work on board of lighters, unloading cargoes from the 
ships in the harbors where there are no wharves. That was 
the only time that Capt. Buckland ever spoke to me, for 
after the ship arrived in San Francisco I never met him; 
but as I said before, while he was a man of few words he 
was a kind hearted gentleman. 

17 



186 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

April 30tli, lat. 32 49 north, long. 120 03 west. The fair 
weather has left us and we have the wind about west-north- 
west and hazy weather. The ship now looks trim and 
shapely, as the topmasts and topgallant and royalmasts have 
all been scraped and slushed, the bulwarks painted inside 
and out, as well as the bends of the ship. The boats were 
all painted on the inside and on the outside. In fact, I 
think there was more work done on the " Urania," in watch 
and watch, than there would have been if all hands had been 
kept on deck during the afternoons after we got into pleasant 
weather. 

The steward and the cooks seemed to feel the necessity 
of conciliating the crew when we w^ere so near to the end of 
the voyage, and they prepared for us a treat that I had not 
partaken of since I had joined the " Urania." We were re- 
galed with dried apple pies one day this week, and to-night, 
for our supper, they passed to us out of the galley a tin pan 
heaping full of doughnuts. 

May 2d, lat. 35 09 north, long. 121 16 west. We are now, 
all of us, on the tenter hooks of expectation. 

To-day we have sighted five vessels, all of them steering 
in the same direction as ourselves. 

This night the mates ordered that two men should take a 
lookout station on the topgallant forecastle, one od the 
weather bow and one on the lee bow. We had the middle 
watch on this night, and it seemed a short watch because of 
the passengers, who tramped around the decks all night 
long. Every half hour some one of them would come for- 
ward and hail with, "Say, do you see anything?" "No, 
sir," I would answer, "only the light from the vessel on our 
lee quarter." 

When the larboard watch was called at four A. M. and we 
were relieved we left a number of passengers on deck who 
had not turned in during the night. 

When our watch was called at seven bells we received 
from the galley for breakfast that which astonished our 
stomachs; it was nothing less than fried ham and boiled 
rice. This fare was unprecedented. We hadn't seen any- 



A Tale of Two Oceaj^s. 187 

thing of the kind since we left Eio, and the members of the 
crew told me that it was the first time that fried ham had 
been passed into the forecastle since the ship left Boston. 

May 3d. By observation at noon our position was lat. 
37 03 north, long. 122 50 west. 

After the captain had examined his chart, which he 
placed on the capstan, and pricked off the position of the 
ship, he told the mate to send a man aloft to the foretopmast 
crosstrees to keep a sharp lookout for land. When the pas- 
sengers heard this order they were in a tremor of excite- 
ment, and some of the youngest of them made an attempt to 
go aloft, but the mate quickly checked their ardor, for when 
we left Eio the captain had given strict orders to the two 
mates not to permit any of the passengers to go into the rig- 
ging, as it might result in a catastrophe, and it is a very 
proper rule on board of a passenger ship. Vessels were 
quite numerous on both sides of our ship, but quite a dis- 
tance off. 

About four P. M. we sighted a ship standing to the south- 
ward which the mate said had come out from San Francisco. 

About five p. M. the lookout aloft gave the joyful news of 
"Land ho!" " Where away ?" asked the captain. "Four 
points on the weather bow, sir." "Very well; come down." 
The lookout came down on deck, and when the captain had 
gone aloft with his spyglass and scanned the land, he re- 
turned on deck and said it was a group of rocky islands 
called the Farallones, in lat. 37 41 north, long. 123 01 west, 
about twenty-five miles southwest from San Francisco 
harbor. 

At this announcement the passengers became almost un- 
controllable with glee. A number of them struck up the 
favorite refrain: 

" Oh, Susannali, don't you cry for me; 
I'm going to California with my washbowl on my knee." 

As we approached near to the rocky, craggy, barren- 
looking island we could see myriads of birds circling around 
on the wing, which we afterwards learned made these rocky 



188 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

islands their breeding place, and from whence San Fran- 
cisco was supplied with an abundance of eggs during the 
months of June and July. 

At seven p. m. the captain ordered all light sails to be 
taken in and to put the ship under topsails, foresail, jib and 
spanker. We then hauled off and lay oflf and on during the 
night. The wind was to the westward and the weather clear. 
The passengers were nearly ail of them on deck, gathered in 
groups and engaged in merry conversation. 

The night passed, and at four a. m. the captain came on 
deck and ordered the ship to be put on her course for the 
harbor and all sail to be made on her. When the watch was 
called all hands were ordered to make sail on the ship. We 
scrambled aloft with light hearts and loosed the topgallant- 
sails and royals for the last time on board the "Urania." 
Everything was set by five A. M., and the watch was ordered 
below for the last time. 

At seven bells, when the watch was called, the land on 
the larboard hand was pkinly in sight and the ship was 
heading about northeast. 

On this morning all hands forward sat to their first and 
last breakfast together, as before this we had eaten our 
breakfasts watch and watch. 

Directly after breakfast we were ordered to get the lead- 
line and a man was lashed outside the forechaius to heave 
the lead. At that time ships that entered the harbor of San 
Francisco had to be guided by lead and line, as there were 
no pilots, nor were the shoals and rocks indicated by buoys. 

Well, as the sailors call it, we felt our way along until we 
came up to the bar. As we approached it the captain, who 
had gone aloft onto the foreyard with his spyglass, conned 
the wheel and directed the trimming of the sails. 

As the ship approached the land, on the larboard hand 
the green hills and deep valleys of the Marin shore came 
into full view, gladdening the eyes of every person on 
board. The ladies had stationed themselves on the trunk 
of the cabin, and were as smartly dressed as if they expected 
company. 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 189 

As we approached Lime Point, on our larboard hand the 
beautiful green hills, with numerous cattle, that looked at 
that distance like so many lambs, and the umbrageous trees 
of live oak, with outspreading branches, brought to mind 
the old English song of spring-time: 

" Our eyes were briglit, our hearts were liglit, 

And natiare's face was gay; 
The trees their leafy branches spread , 

And perfumes filled sweet May. 
'Twas there we heard the cuckoo's note 

Steal softly through the air, 
While everything around us looked 

Most charming, sweet and fair." 

On our starboard bow we saw a bluff jutting into the bay 
on the apex of which were to be seen two or three small 
brass cannon. Rising far above the cannon was a tall flag- 
staff from the top of which waved the glorious flag of our 
country. At the sight of the flag, one of the young passen- 
gers called out: "Look, boys! Look at the banner of our 
dear country. After having sailed more than eighteen thou- 
sand miles over two vast oceans, that flag tells us that we 
are about to place our feet on the soil of our beloved coun- 
try — the land of the brave and the home of the free." As 
he uttered these words he jumped upon the topgallant fore- 
castle and recited the following lines from Drake's Ode to 
the American Flag: 

" Forever float that standard sheet; 

Where breathes the foe but falls before us. 
With freedom's soil beneath our feet. 
And freedom's banner waving o'er us ? " 

At the conclusion of the recital all hands gave three 
cheers for the American flag. 

Next came into view the whitewashed adobe walls and 
tiled roofs of the Presidio barracks, with its sloping verdant 
lawn. On our larboard side was Alcatraz, which in Spanish 
signifies pelican, as this small rocky island was the home of 
the pelican, that preyed upon the fish in the bay. Before 



190 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

us loomecl Telegrapli Hill, which was already surmounted 
by a small woodeu house, through the center of which shot 
up into space a mast about fifty feet high from which pro- 
jected arms according to the wishes of its manager, thus: 
For a schooner just coming into port he would hoist one 
arm; for a brig, two arms; for a ship three arms, thus: 



f 



In this way, as soon as the man on guard with his 



telescope descried a vessel in the offing, he would raise arms 
from the mast according to the rig of the vessel. Hence the 
name Telegraph Kill. 

The mate now called out, "Take in the royals. Take in 
the topgallantsails. Haul up the mainsail and unhook the 
tacks and sheets. Haul down the flying jib." 

As we sailed into view of the harbor our eyes were greeted 
with a sight that they never have encountered since. Ship- 
ping in such numbers that it was absolutely impossible to 
enumerate them; they seemed and looked to us as we were 
entering the harbor as if they were piled up one on top of 
the other. I will here enumerate some of the vessels whose 
names I a few days afterward took pains to learn : The very 
first vessel I saw at anchor was the French ship " Chatau- 
briand," of Havre; the " Thomcis Bennett," of Charleston, 
S. C; "Salem,"of New York; "Genessee;" the " Callao;" 
the "Izetto;" "Sarah Parker," of Nantucket; " Friend- 
ship," of Edgartown, Mass.; the "John Jay;" the "Mary," 
of Nantucket; the "Cadmus;" the "Deucalion;" "Morri- 
son," of Philadelphia; "Ganges," of Gloucester, Mass.; 
"Carib," of Salem; "Palladium," of Boston; " Dian- 
the," of Boston. " Samuel Russell," of New York; the 
"Albany" and the "Utica," of New York; schooner 
"John Allyne, " of New Bedford; pilot boat "Favorite,'' 
of New Bedford; sloop "Burr," — came through the Straits 
of Magellan; schooner "Osceola," of New Bedford; bark 
"Eureka," of Cleveland, Ohio; schr. " Horace," from New 
Bedford; schooner "A. Emery," of Berwick, Me.; brigs 
"Ark," and "James Caskie," two deckers, of Newbury- 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 191 

port, Mass.; "South America," and the " Nahumkeag," of 
Providence, R. I.; "Niantic," of Warren, R. I.; the "Har- 
rison," and if I could remember them all it would fill a 
book to enumerate them. 

When we got abreast of Yerba Buena Island, now called 
Goat Island, we hauled up to the southward and westward 
and skirted the closely anchored shipping and dropped our 
anchor in the harbor near Rincon Point, San Francisco, lat. 
37 47 55 north, long. 122 24 52 west. 

As we dropped our anchor and heard the chain run out 
we all felt that we would never again sail another foot on 
the ship "Urania," nor any other, unless it would be as a 
first-class cabin passenger. 

We went aloft and furled all the sails snug and took good 
care to put an artistic bunt on each one of the square sails. 
After the sails were furled and the decks were cleared up, 
the mate, Mr. Ingraham, called Tom and myself to him and 
told us that we were released from further service on board 
the "Urania." It being now six o'clock I resolved to pass 
one more night on board. 

Of the ships mentioned as being in the harbor of San 
Francisco, very few of them ever went out of the harbor 
again. The most of them were turned into storeships, by 
having large sections cut out of their sides level with the 
'tween decks, and thus they were utilized as storeships where 
goods were placed on board from other ships, and then taken 
ashore to the beach in lighters as they were needed. 

Some of these ships had a very interesting history. 
There was the "John Jay, "that took Benjamin Franklin 
to France as jVmerican Embassador in 1776. 

There was the "Cadmus," on board which ship Gen. 
Lafayette made his voyage to the United States in 1824. 

There was the schooner "John Allyne," that was 
bought, fitted out and loaded by a company of intend- 
ing miners. After they arrived off Cape Horn they re- 
solved to sail through the Straits of Magellan, and when 
they were going through they anchored in one of the nu- 
merous bays and sent their boats ashore to obtain a sup- 



192 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

ply of wood and water. Of those that went ashore was a 
man named Benjamin Franklin Bourne, of Buzzard's Bay, 
Mass., in honor of whose family the recently incorporated 
town of Bourne, on Cape Cod, where President Cleveland 
has his summer home, is named. Well, as they had about 
got thronj^h with the labor of wood gathering, they espied a 
formidable number of Patagonian Indians coming down the 
cliflfs towards them. The crew at once made for their boats 
and shoved oflf, but they discovered that Mr. Bourne was 
not among them. Being seized with fear and not knowing 
but what the Indians might board the schooner and capture 
them all, they returned to the vessel and got under way, and 
left Mr. Bourne to his fate. This was in the beginning of 
1849. The vessel got through the straits all safe and after a 
safe passage they put into Valparaiso in order to send the 
news to Mr. Bourne's friends of the sad fate of the gentle- 
man. The news arrived in Boston in the latter part of June. 
President Taylor died in July, and was succeeded by Millard 
Fillmore. The new President appointed Daniel Webster, 
who was an old friend of the Bourne family, as Secretary of 
State. Mr. Benj. F. Bourne, Sr., went to Mr. Webster, and 
the result was that the Secretary of the Navy ordered the 
sloop-of-war " Vandalia," that was at that time being fitted 
out for the Pacific station, to sail through the Straits of Ma- 
gellan and make search at every available point for the miss- 
ing gentleman. In the meantime another schooner went 
through the straits, some six months after the capture, and 
the Patagonians brought Mr. Bourne to the place where she 
had anchored to get wood and water. As they showed 
a disposition to release their prisoner, the captain of the 
schooner gave them sufiicient of such articles as he had and 
which they desired, and the prisoner, Mr. Bourne, was 
yielded up into the hands of his countryman. The suffer- 
ings and abuses which the gentleman suffered at the hands 
of the giant Patagonians were such that the relation of them 
would melt a heart of stone. The "Vandalia" obeyed the 
orders of the Secretary of the Navy, but she had been fore- 
stalled in her errand of mercy. This was the history of 



A Tale of Two Oceans. 193 

the "John Allyne." Mr. Bourne was brought to California 
on board the schooner that received him, and in due time 
returned to New Bedford and afterwards became a rich man 
by his enterprise at home. 

The schooner "Osceola," which vessel was mentioned 
with others, had her history. The Boston and Sandwich 
Glass Company needed a vessel to run between Boston and 
Sandwich, Cape Cod, to carry material to the glass works 
and bring to Boston the manufactured glass. They had one 
vessel, but needed another that would draw less water. 
They found a vessel in New Haven, Conn. She was a sloop 
named the " Osceola, " built on Long Island Sound to run 
between New Haven and Albany, N. Y. She was sharp as 
a wedge forward, with a fine clean run, and flat on the floor 
as a house. She had a center-board and drew but little 
water, which was the desideratum, because Sandwich harbor 
has a sandbar at the mouth of it. She was bought in New 
Haven and a captain and crew were sent to bring her to 
Boston by the way of Nantucket Shoals and around the 
Highlands of Cape Cod. When the captain saw the sloop, 
and examined her model, he refused to bring her around to 
Boston — because it was November and a gale of wind might 
set in — and another and more courageous captain had to be 
sent. She was brought around Cape Cod safely and into 
Boston. She was run between Boston and Sandwich for 
a number of years, until the Old Colony Railroad was built 
and a branch was extended to Sandwich. This obviated the 
necessity for keeping the " Osceola" running, and she was 
offered for sale in the early part of the year 1849. A com- 
pany from New Bedford bought her, and took her over the 
shoals and through Wood's Hole into Buzzard's Bay, to New 
Bedford. There she was fitted out, the center-board was 
secured in the well, and a false keel put on her. She sailed 
for California, and when she encountered the first gale of 
wind in the Gulf Stream, she slatted her mast right out of 
her, breaking it off near the deck. A jurymast was fitted 
up and she made her way back to New Bedford, was rigged 
into a schooner and started again, and came to California 

18 



194 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

safe and sound and run on this coast for many years after- 
wards. Now, when I compare the achievement of these in- 
trepid men with the doings of Columbus and his fellow- 
voyagers on the vessels " Santa Maria" and the " Pinta," I 
don't know which of them most to admire, for Columbus, 
after a period of thirty or forty days at the longest, intended 
to return to the port of Palos, in Spain, from whence he 
started; but these adventurous descendants of the Puritans 
knew to a certainty that a perilous journey was before them, 
over two trackless oceans, which would last six or eight 
months in length. 

The "Niantic" was afterwards filled in just where she 
lay, and now the spot forms the northwest corner of Clay 
and Sansome streets, which locality is to-day six wide busi- 
ness streets distant from the margin of the bay. 

After a night's rest, not having a watch to stand, I arose 
early the next morning and after breakfast I went ashore 
with others in the longboat, and about nine o'clock I placed 
my feet on the shores of the new El Dorado, the place that 
had absorbed all my thoughts and on which I had centered 
my fondest anticipations — the goal of my ambition, where I 
hoped that I would at least be able to earn a comfortable 
living without being obliged to any longer follow the sea, 
after having done so for the past fourteen years of my life. 

We landed near Kincon Point, from whence we had to 
make a long circuit to reach the town, for from where Fol- 
som and East streets intersect now to First street it was all 
bay, with ships of the largest class riding at anchor thereon. 
One of them, the "Callao," lies to-day on the very spot 
where she rode at anchor at that time. It is now called Beale 
street, between Mission and Howard streets, and there are 
Main, Spear, Steuart and East streets between where the 
ship is buried in the street and the water front of to-day. 

As I walked around the margin of the bay I found myself 
in a town of tents. I saw but very few houses, and those 
that I did see were small buildinc;s that had been framed in 
the Eastern States and sent around Cape Horn on board of 
ships. 



A Tale op Two Oceans. 195 

When I reached First street — and the reason why it was 
called First street is because it then was the first street on 
the margin of the bay, although to-day it is seven wide 
streets removed from the bay — when I reached First street, 
between Mission and Minna, there was a little steamer of 
about one hundred and fifty tons being put together. She 
had been constructed in the East and every part numbered 
and marked, then taken apart and put on board of a ship 
and brought out here and reconstructed. When she was 
completed she was named the "Sagamore." Her career 
was very brief, for she was blown up the following Sep- 
tember. 

As I walked up the beach I noticed that every man that 
I saw appeared to be busy as a bee. They worked as though 
they had much to do and but little time to do it in. 

When I arrived where California and Sansome streets 
now intersect, and which was then the beach, I found a man 
there with a team of two mustang horses and a wagon, load- 
ing some brick which had been discharged from a lighter. 
I accosted him with the usual salutation of "Good morning, 
sir." He answered pleasantly, "Good morning." I said, 
"I have just arrived here in a ship, and would like to help 
you to load those bricks." "Well," said he, "you are not 
dressed for this kind of work." " Well, sir," I replied, "I 
dont care about my clothes, for I've got more clothes than 
money." " If that is your condition," said he, "you may 
take right hold," and I did. After the wagon was loaded he 
took the load up California street, just above Montgomery, 
where they were building a house for a firm named Fitz- 
gerald, Bausch & Brewster. After he had dumped the brick 
he returned, and I had taken bricks enough out of the water 
to load the wagon again. We loaded three loads in about 
two hours, when the job was finished. He asked me how 
much I wanted. I answered that T would take what he had 
a mind to give me. He then put his hand into his pocket 
and pulled out a two dollars and a half gold piece. I thanked 
him most sincerely, and I felt then as if I had really reached 
a land that was " flowing with milk and honey," and thank 



196 A Tale of Two Oceans. 

God for His goodness, I have never had reason to change 
my mind. Just then the following lines by Charles Mackay 
came to my mind: 

" A willing heart and a ready hand 

Are priceless to the young, 
And are the sources whence success 

In every age has sprung; 
Then cherish them, ye noble lads. 

Whatever may assail, 
For a willing heart and a ready hand 

Are never known to fail." 

Finis. 



Our Centennial Birthday. 197 

The following lines, which I wrote on July 4th, 1876, and 
which express the inmost feelings of my heart, I now pub- 
lish in addition to the story of my trip to California: 

OUE CENTENNIAL BIKTHDAY. 

The day made glorious ou the western main, 

From which sweet Freedom takes its yearly date, 

Now dawns with brightness on the land again, 
Where grateful millions guide its onward fate. 

Oppression's bonds their early years confined; 

Slaves in the cherished land that gave them birth; 
Each man resolved with firm, unwavering mind, 

To strike a blow to free his home and hearth. 

Euled by a king enthroned 'mid distant seas, 
Deaf to appeals borne from this western shore. 

He aimed with stern, unstatesmanlike decrees. 
To claim for tribute all their humble store. 

The royal tyrant, with outrageous laws, 

Essayed to crush the honest sons of toil; 
In vain did Justice plead the sufferer's cause, 

Nor Mercy's tears could stay the hand of spoil. 

The issue forced upon unwilling hands. 
That ne'er did wish from parent ties to part, 

'Till royal greed, with its unjust demands. 
Drove loyalty from each indignant heart. 

The day on which the deadly strife began 

Gave birth to a nation that ignores a king; 
Its limits reach towards the setting sun; 

Two mighty oceans to its borders cling. 

One century marks her course of self-control, 

And lo! behold her now, a mighty nation; 
Unnumbered ships her starry flag unfold— 

The brightest banner that illumes creation. 

What heart but beats on this Centennial day 
With conscious dignity, nor swells with pride; 

What lips but breathe sweet Freedom's sacred lay, 
That gives man all— earth can give naught beside. 



198 Our Centennial Birthday. 

Perish the hand that basely lifts the sword, 
This land, that i^atriots won, to sever; 

Cursed be the tongue that would with trait'rous word 
Soil her flag, whose folds shall wave forever. 

America! safe haven for down-trodden man, 
Elysium of industrious, happy throngs. 

Praise the brave founders of thy freedom's plan. 
To them the honor of this day belongs. 



LGD7H 



